Chapter 29. Fallen.
Alfred took a few deep breaths as he centered his thoughts. Gilbert was panting beside him as they took cover behind a building extremely close to the capital building. They had barely made it to the capital before they were under fire from the various soldiers around them. Alfred glanced over the side of the building to see the procession in front of him. The militaries of the surrounding nations were far more impressive than the military of his own country. It was almost sad. The militaries worked together flawlessly, moving without question from the orders of those in front.
The group directly in front, however, drew the most attention. All five of the leaders from the country of Merkatus were in front, along with Feliks, the king of Prulamuck. They all held their own guns, not so much as flinching when another soldier of the king fell in front of them. Arthur was with them, along with Lovino, Francis, and Ludwig. Antonio was most likely hopping the buildings from above, shooting down anyone he had a clear shot to. They weren't holding back this time, they couldn't afford to. The goal was a complete takeover.
"This is fun, huh?" Gilbert smirked from beside him. "Assassins in broad daylight, who would've thought."
"Yeah, it's weird," Alfred muttered, running with Gilbert along the back alleys to follow the procession. A few civilians were around here and there, but they easily ignored each other. The civilians were focused on surviving and Alfred was focused on ensuring the safety of the country leaders. Gilbert was focused on making sure Alfred didn't make any sudden movements. Once the group got into the capital building, it was all off-limits to Alfred.
He looked around another corner when they stopped again. Everything was going fine, according to plan. That was when he saw two soldiers that had managed to avoid a barrage of bullets thanks to shields. They were aiming randomly at the front, but Alfred could clearly see their guns pointed at Arthur. He had no idea what came over him, and so quickly, but he stepped forward and shot both of them quickly in the head. That left him with only one bullet left.
"Are you stupid?" Gilbert demanded, pulling him back into darkness before the other soldiers could see where he shot from. "Remember the orders?"
"He was going to get shot," Alfred fought back.
"We're not important, remember?" Gilbert asked. "It's not like we're even going to get buried. Focus on the people that matter. You've only got one bullet left now, dumbass!"
"I know what I'm doing," Alfred said, wrenching himself free to run along the alleys once again to keep up with the moving military.
"You better," Gilbert muttered, following him close behind. Alfred stopped once they were just across the street from the capital building. There was a rather large group of military men lined up in front of the door and, among them, standing just in front of the doors, was Kiku, who held two swords securely in both hands. The soldiers in the revolutionary procession didn't even hesitate to open fire and the soldiers at the doors immediately shot back. Gilbert placed a hand on Alfred's shoulder, no doubt in an attempt to keep him from moving.
Alfred watched as countless soldiers in front of the doors fell, though Kiku easily blocked or sliced into bullets, leaving him unscathed as long as he wasn't the center of attention. But Alfred felt a bad feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. The soldiers around Kiku were falling quickly and, soon, he would be the only target.
"Don't you dare," Gilbert said simply and Alfred noticed that he had tensed to move. Alfred gritted his teeth. Kiku moved forward, suddenly, expertly weaving around the remaining soldiers on his side, and dodging the bullets headed his way. He ran right into the crowd of soldiers from the side, knowing just who to avoid. As he ran, he sliced into every soldier he passed, making nearly every single one fall.
Alfred stored his gun before quickly pulling up one of his sleeves, looking at his least injured arm. Maybe… Gilbert watched both scenes unfold with interest as Alfred tinkered with his arm. Alfred winced as the arm resisted, but his sword did eventually come out. With a little bit more effort, the sword popped out of place, though stayed balanced on his arm. Alfred had to do something while not wasting his last bullet. He could use that if Kiku got too close to a leader. For now, he waited for the perfect moment, for enough soldiers to fall around Kiku, and he quickly moved his arm so that the sword shot through the air. Kiku took a moment of pause as the sword sliced into his arm and clattered to the ground. Gilbert swiftly hid them behind a nearby building.
"Are you crazy?" Gilbert snapped.
"It distracted him," Alfred shrugged. It that pause, more soldiers had gotten their wits about them. There were more gunshots now and Alfred winced. He really hoped Kiku was smart enough to get out of this alive. Alfred knew full well that he could maybe do that again with the swords on his legs, but certainly not his broken arm. It barely worked well enough for him to aim properly, let alone have the sword come out.
That was when Alfred heard it; someone was running towards them. Alfred tensed and Gilbert did as well, but only a second too late. The person that ran towards them, from the opposite direction of the capital building, slammed into Gilbert, forcing his head into the wall behind him. Gilbert fell limp immediately, collapsing onto the ground. Alfred stared in wonder at the man in front of him.
"Matthew?" Alfred asked.
"He's not staying down for long, I didn't hit him that hard," Matthew said simply, looking Alfred directly in the eye. "Come with me, now."
"Why should I?" Alfred tensed, ready to grab for his gun at any moment.
"Direct order from Ivan," Matthew said coldly and Alfred's eyes widened and his arm dropped. "We don't have time, come now."
"Why does he want to see me?" Alfred asked.
"Are you questioning a direct order from the king?" Matthew asked and Alfred blinked. The gunshots sounded around them and Alfred noticed just how cold Matthew's eyes were. Alfred shook his head and Matthew took off running. Alfred followed him. They took the long way to the capital building, around the back where the main army wouldn't see them.
They were perfectly quiet as they entered the building. All of the soldiers were in the front, dying and fighting for their king. They weaved through the empty hallways easily. Matthew only stopped once to enter a room for a fraction of a second, before leaving with a device in his hand he didn't allow Alfred to see.
Alfred bit his lip as he followed Matthew. But it was odd. Surely, the king would be wise enough to be in the safe room in this situation, but that was not where they were going. In fact, they stopped running in front of the doors to the throne room, of all places. The door opened for them and Alfred nearly choked on his own breath to see the king, sitting on the throne as if nothing had changed over the past few days. The man was slouched, though the second he saw the two, he brightened and sat upright, giving them a smile.
"If you would, Matthew," Ivan said simply as the two stepped into the room. Matthew moved to the keypad for the door and locked it before pulling out his gun and shooting it. It wasn't budging now. What was Ivan planning?
"Your Majesty," Alfred muttered, looking at the ground, the walls, anywhere but at Ivan.
"It is good to see you again, Alfred," Ivan said to him and Matthew walked along the room easily, his footsteps the only sound to be heard, not even the sound of the gunshots around them. "I am happy to see that you are well."
"Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?" Alfred asked as Matthew handed the object to Ivan. Alfred easily recognized it as the portable computer that Francis had used when Alfred had first met the revolutionary group.
"I hope you understand," Ivan sighed and Alfred felt the all too familiar feeling of his limbs locking up before they failed him, going limp. He tumbled to the floor, unable to catch himself. His face hit the floor painfully and he felt a bad feeling grow in the pit of his stomach. "Matthew, please sit your brother up for me."
Matthew walked, once again, to the other end of the room. Matthew helped Alfred to a sitting position and both brothers looked each other in the eye. Alfred could tell, in that moment, Matthew was just as scared as him. Neither of them knew what Ivan was up to, but they were locked in a room during a coup. They had no choice but to trust the man, though. What other choice did they have? He was their king, he was Ivan, the man they would both live and die for.
Matthew carefully maneuvered Alfred to the point where he was sitting against a wall, looking at Ivan, and Matthew stood to his side.
"I am going to be clear," Ivan said after a moment of silence. He wasn't hesitating, not even in the slightest. He sat comfortably in his throne, far more comfortable than Alfred had ever seen him in that symbolic chair. "I cannot say I care much for either of you." Alfred felt the pang in his heart grow worse and he saw Matthew's legs nearly fail him. Ivan was lying. "I was the one that killed your parents in the original revolution, they were in my way as I took the capital myself. You two were just a bit of fun for me, a way to let off some steam. It was…fun to listen to your screams as I cut into your eyes and even more fun to see what would happen if I cut off your limbs."
Alfred finally looked the man in the eyes. He was lying. His voice wasn't wavering, he wasn't shaking, he seemed far more comfortable in his skin than he had ever been, but he was lying. He had to be. The king Alfred had grown up with would have never done something like that.
"It was some soldier that finally made me stop, saying it was inhumane for me to do that to you," Ivan sighed heavily, as if he still regretted it to this day. "I was made king and, as a way of retribution, you could say, a few of the nobles decided I should take care of you two. So I made you…slaves in a way." Ivan chuckled slightly, a cold, heartless sound. He was lying. He was lying. He was lying. He was lying. "It's surprisingly easy to get people to do anything you want them to if you train them from birth, isn't it?"
"Why are you saying this?" Alfred asked, his voice wavering far more than it should be.
"Well, that is easy," Ivan smiled and Alfred had never felt so…terrified in his life. This was wrong. This was his king, he would never do anything bad. He was lying. He had a reason for everything. "I am going to offer you a final retribution. I would rather die by your hands than the hands of those barbarians."
"Ivan," Matthew said boldly, stepping forward and Ivan snapped his cold gaze on him.
"You do not have a say in this," Ivan said coldly and Alfred's eyes widened. Ivan messed with the machine in his hands and Alfred winced at the painful jolt that occurred as he regained control of his arms. "Neither do you. Alfred, shoot me."
Alfred's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the man, his breath all but leaving him. Shoot Ivan? How could he?
"You do have bullets left in your gun, correct?" Ivan asked boredly.
"One, Your Majesty," Alfred muttered and Ivan raised an eyebrow.
"Even after that," Ivan shook his head, a sad smile tracing his face before he glared at Alfred. "Shoot me, Alfred, one is more than enough, don't you think?"
Alfred slowly moved his hands and he pulled out his gun. His hands were shaking and he knew it was all mental. His hands shouldn't even have the ability to shake. He stared at the gun before looking at Ivan, who seemed almost bored. Alfred carefully held the gun up and he felt Matthew tense beside him. Ivan sent him a warning glance and Matthew stayed still, his hands clenching into tight fists. Alfred aimed as carefully as he could, but his hands refused to stay steady on the face of the man he'd admired and obeyed for years.
"Alfred, shoot me!" Ivan snapped, his patience leaving him. Alfred was left so surprised that his finger hit the trigger and he winced, closing his eyes tightly at the sound. He took a few shaky breaths before he opened his eyes. Ivan stared at him in shock and Alfred noticed a hole in the wall behind him. For the first time, Alfred missed. He had never missed, not even the first time he shot a target. The king wanted him to hit it in the center, so he did. Matthew was the same way.
And he missed.
"Matthew," Ivan said simply, not taking his eyes off of Alfred. "Give Alfred one of your guns."
Alfred clumsily dropped the gun in his hands.
"Your Majesty, I-"
"Matthew," Ivan stopped him. "Give Alfred one of your guns." Matthew slowly obeyed, pulling out one of his pistols. Alfred didn't even look away from the king as he took hold of the gun easily. "You are not to miss this time, Alfred," Ivan said clearly. "Shoot to kill."
"I promise I won't miss this time," Alfred muttered, aiming at Ivan once again. There was a sound at the door beside him, people trying to hit it, trying to get in. They grew more feverish as time passed. He looked at Ivan. The man wanted to die, he wanted to be killed by Alfred and Matthew, and he was lying to get it done. At least, Alfred hoped he was lying. He must have been suffering, to be wanting to die so badly. Alfred would do this man one last favor and put him out of his misery. He raised the gun carefully and took a deep breath. His hands had stopped shaking.
He locked Ivan's head in his sight. He was not going to miss. He pulled the trigger and, in that moment, all sound seemed to stop. Ivan's body twitched as the bullet lodged in the center of his forehead and then he slouched, red trickling down his face, slowly at first, but then a lot faster, coating his face.
Alfred's shaking hands returned and he dropped the gun, not shifting his gaze from the corpse in front of him. He had just killed Ivan. He had just killed his king. He had killed the man that had given him life, given him a purpose. He screamed, his hands going to his hair, shifting to his mouth, his eyes, his hair, his ears, he couldn't decide. He couldn't even hear his own screams as he stared ahead. He tried to use his hands to help him climb away, despite his lack of ability to use his legs. He could feel himself getting light-headed as he didn't…couldn't stop screaming. What need did he have of air without his king alive to tell him what to do?
And then everything went black.
Gilbert groaned at the pain in his head. His eyes blinked open to blurry vision and he groaned again. There was something in front of him and he focused on it, despite the headache that quickly grew. Finally, he could see the face in front of him, the green eyes and brown hair.
"Oh, hey, Toni," Gilbert groaned, his hand going to his head to assess the damage. No blood. That was good.
"Gilbert," Antonio said, his voice quick and shaking. "We need to move fast."
"Why?" Gilbert muttered.
"The person that knocked you out was Matthew," Antonio said. "Alfred went with him. I saw them go into the capital building."
Gilbert looked up at his friend.
"How long was I out?" Gilbert asked, accepting the hand that helped him up, to his feet.
"A few minutes," Antonio nodded to him before he ran towards the building. Gilbert followed quickly after. Soldiers had begun combing through the city, but they ignored them easily enough. The soldiers all knew the faces of the people not to touch or shoot. Gilbert paused for a fraction of a second, however, when he jumped over a certain corpse. He looked back, and stiffened. Seeing Kiku with his eyes wide open to the sky, lying with multiple bullets through his entire body made him want to puke. He knelt down beside him, carefully closing his eyes, before he started running once again.
The doors to the capital building were wide open and they ran through them. Gilbert could ignore the pain for now. There was only one reason why Alfred would go with Matthew; a direct order from the king. This couldn't be good.
Gilbert took the lead when Antonio didn't know where to go. Gilbert knew the layout well enough to at least make it to the throne room. Sure enough, stopped just in front of the throne room was their entire group of assassins, leaders and just a few soldiers. Gilbert shoved through all of them at once.
"It's not…fucking…opening," Matthias grumbled, attempting to shove his way through the closed door.
"It's locked?" Gilbert asked and Arthur turned his attention to him, panic evident on his face.
"It's more than that," Francis sighed from where he was attempting to hack into the keypad. "I've unlocked it, but it's not opening. The other side must be broken."
"Well, get it the fuck open!" Gilbert snapped, joining Matthias in his attempt to blindly get it open.
"Charging into it with no reason will not get it to open!" Arthur scoffed and Gilbert growled before trying to listen into the room. It was locked, surely that meant Alfred and Matthew had to be in there too. "Antonio told you, didn't he?"
"We have to get in," Gilbert growled.
"Here," Tino shoved them aside, crowbar in hand, sliding it into a small section of the door that he could reach. Berwald helped him and, soon, the door creaked open just slightly. Gilbert attempted to peer through the crack that was created. He could see the king.
Everyone in front of the door froze at the sound of a gunshot. It was deathly quiet for moments afterwards. Gilbert watched the blood flow from the king's forehead as he slumped forward. No one dared to move a muscle.
After that came the unearthly screams from inside. Matthew and Alfred.
"Get this damn door open now!" Gilbert snapped before anyone else had the chance to. Gilbert joined with Berwald as the massive man pushed hard onto the crowbar to get the door open. Soon, the door was open just enough for someone to get through and Matthias stole his chance. Gilbert followed immediately after him, Arthur not too far behind. Gilbert was barely able to take in the scene of the brothers, both on the ground and a mess of tears, before he heard the two, quiet shots beside him. Matthias still had his gun aimed at them.
Gilbert glanced back and saw the darts in both of their necks as the brothers crumpled to the ground.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Gilbert snapped at Matthias before he followed Arthur's lead and knelt in front of one of the twins. Arthur checked over Alfred and Gilbert took Matthew. He was sleeping soundly, his breathing even. He didn't have so much as a scratch on him, but the thick trails of tears down his face made Gilbert cringe.
"They just killed him," Matthias bluntly gestured to the corpse on the throne. "I can't trust either of them to be able to just sit down and have a talk."
"And that gives you full license to knock them out?" Arthur snapped.
"Remember your place," Matthias said simply and Arthur winced. "You're in no place to give orders, alright? I know what's best, I've been leading people a lot longer than you have."
Arthur huffed just as the people outside the door finally managed to force it open all the way and everyone pooled inside. Gilbert looked over Matthew carefully. He never expected a chance to be this close to him again, and their reunion had to end up like this?
The room was oddly quiet as everyone came to terms with the scene in front of them and Gilbert carefully maneuvered Matthew's head onto his lap. So what would happen to him now? And Alfred? Their entire purpose was to the king, even if Alfred didn't admit it flat out. He was gone now, and it was obvious no one else trusted them. Would they just get killed like the rest of their team?
"Look what I found," Lovino grunted victoriously and Gilbert looked up to the doorway. Lovino was holding a man back, a knife pressed against the man's neck. He looked like a noble, and he wasn't very good at getting away. "He's got a few secrets up his sleeve."
"Whatcha got, then?" Feliks asked the man, who stared at the scene in horror, his eyes lingering on Ivan's corpse.
"Go ahead, little pig," Lovino smirked. "Squeal all of the information you got or I'm gonna kill your ass."
"You wouldn't," the noble tried. "I'm too important."
"Wanna bet?" Lovino laughed slightly, digging in the knife further into the man's throat. The man gave out a strangled cry and Lovino stopped. "Well? Tell 'em what you just told me to save your life a few minutes ago!"
"The king…" the noble muttered. "The king wasn't the one truly in charge, he was a figurehead." Gilbert blinked in surprise. What? "The real people pulling the strings was a small group of elite nobles…I-Including me. Please let me go."
"Keep going," Lovino prompted him. There was more?
"It was our idea to have the assassin group," The noble supplied. "We wanted to kill the brats the second we found them, but Ivan wouldn't let us."
"And who are they?" Lovino asked, already knowing the answer. The noble paused and Lovino pressed the knife in until the man talked again.
"The figurehead king and queen from the country before the original revolution had twin boys," the noble squeaked, wheezing and wincing at the pain. "The only way to control them was this way. Please don't kill me."
"These two are their sons?" Matthias stared at him in shock. "I was told they died that day, there's no way."
"Then do a blood test, I swear I'm not lying," the noble pleaded. "Now let me go! I have a family, property I need to tend to. The chaos you caused will do nothing to help them."
"I think your property is far better off now," Arthur scoffed and Gilbert had no idea who to look to.
"This means we're not killing them, huh?" Lovino asked, eyeing Alfred and Matthew.
"No, we're not," Matthias said. "This actually gives me an idea."
"Then at least allow me to let out a bit of my anger," Lovino smirked and the noble started squirming even more.
"Is that all of the information you have to offer?" Arthur asked coldly, still not leaving Alfred's side.
"Yes, I-I swear, now let me go," the noble pleaded.
"Eh, I don't care what you do, just, like make it interesting, okay?" Feliks smirked.
"Any people in charge of the old country should be killed anyway," Matthias sighed heavily and Lovino smirked happily, nodding.
"I'll be happy to take out the trash," Lovino laughed and swiftly slit the man's throat, allowing him to drop to the ground with a permanent, surprised look on his face. Gilbert looked down at Matthew, resting and blissfully unaware of the events around him. So he was a prince, then? That explained the looks, he guessed. But he was far from able to be a leader, of any kind. He couldn't lead a country. And who knew how he'd act once he finally woke up after this turn of events. Would he still be torn up about the king's death? Could they even control the two brothers?
"I'm sorry, Birdie."
The song I chose for this chapter's title is by the EGOIST and if any of you watched Psycho-Pass 2, you would know that it's the ending song to that anime and it just gives the perfect feel for what happened in this chapter and the feeling you get in the end. There were also a lot of characters there at the end and I couldn't make it flow very well with all of them having a part, so I just kind of imagine them all staring at what just happened like "well, shit". Because there's all five Nordics, Feliks, Ludwig, Antonio, and Francis, along with everyone else that had major parts there at the end. Anyway, I told y'all that this would be a nice, long chapter! This was fun to write and I hope it doesn't seem very rushed, because I felt rushed writing it, trying to put everything down in the rush of such a huge action sequence. Anyway, we're still not done, we've got a few chapters left till the end, and after that we can focus on backstories (because I bet a few of you want to know what really happened in Ivan's past now that you have two different stories).
Anyway, enough of me talking, please review! And have a nice day.