Chapter 31. Immortals.

Arthur and Alfred were silent beside each other. Alfred had let out all of the emotions he was capable of. He had stopped clinging to Arthur some time ago, staring down at the sheets still covering half of his body. Arthur sighed at the display. Alfred was…reverting. Going inside of himself, blocking out the emotions he'd been slowly gaining during his time with Arthur. But what other choice did he have? Alfred was a killer, he was good with handling death, even if it was close to him. This was what he was trained to do.

"So, what now?" Alfred asked eventually, his voice finally coming out evenly.

Arthur sighed. "They won't change their minds on this matter." Arthur hated dealing with nobility, even if they were national leaders. They only cared about getting their own way, having an advantage. The little people they crushed in the process were of no consequence. "If you could talk to your brother, perhaps convince him to go along with this…"

"He doesn't trust me," Alfred shook his head, smiling with no humor behind it. "I'm just supposed to be a leader now? Forget everything I've known all of my life? Just because I'm some other figure head's son? Why can't they just prop up someone else? No one will know."

"There's a perfectly good option right here," Arthur sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The way they see it, there's no way to be caught in a lie in this case, as they have done a blood test, they know it's true. And what else do either of you have to live for? You won't have to do much leading on your own, that is a promise. It will be rather easy when the decisions are made for you."

"Was Ivan just that?" Alfred muttered darkly. "A puppet? Were any of the decisions he made his own?"

"It was his decision and his decision alone to have you kill him," Arthur pressed and Alfred flinched, but looked up at him. His blue eyes that used to be bright were dull now, back to what they were when Arthur had met him. And he was lost, terribly, terribly lost. "That much can be assured."

"Why me?" Alfred muttered, glaring at the sheets. "Why not Matthew? Why not himself? Why not just some random soldier."

"He told you that himself," Arthur offered. Alfred had told him the story Ivan said; that Ivan was the one that maimed the children. Whether or not it was true, Ivan said it to make it easier for the two to deal with his death. If he was something vile, they wouldn't feel bad for spilling his blood. "It was retribution. He thought he deserved to die for what he did to you two."

"I can't believe that," Alfred shook his head furiously, as if trying to shake out the memory from his head. "He…I…We…"

"Alfred," someone said from the door. Arthur hadn't even noticed it open. Arthur looked back and saw that Matthew was standing in the doorway, alone, though Gilbert was behind him a few steps. "We need to talk." Alfred nodded numbly and Arthur simply walked out of the room. This was a matter they had to deal with themselves, alone. Arthur had no place. He could barely understand the inner-workings of those two and their minds. How could he convince them of anything.

"Francis talked to him," Gilbert sighed. "I couldn't even utter a word to him without him getting pissed off and Francis is the one that calms him down."

"What did he say?" Arthur asked, looking back at Gilbert and finally away from the door. Who knew what the twins would be discussing, whether they should go along with this, trick everyone into thinking they would go along with it…or worse go along with their killing instinct…

"Something about courage," Gilbert shrugged. "I couldn't listen very well from how far away I was. But something changed in him after it. He still won't talk to me, though."

"Give him time," Arthur muttered, offering a small smile.

"They're not the same," Gilbert sighed. "Whatever happened to both of them, it's like it's been erased, it's too hard to deal with. It's just easier to be a mindless assassin."

"Perhaps it would be easier, in this situation, to be mindless," Arthur said. "Ivan had the right idea, he's the perfect example."

Alfred had noticed it the second he woke up. His arms and legs had been replaced. That already signified that he was something important, something more than an assassin. And, yet, he didn't feel very important. He wasn't able to bring any input into the situation, wasn't even able to talk to the country leaders around them to convince them of anything else. Wasn't even able to say that he didn't want his prosthetics changed. It meant nothing if Ivan wasn't the one doing it. All he had were the assassins that were supposed to be around to "protect" them, as Arthur had put it…and his brother. Alfred stood when his brother entered the room, Arthur ducking out as if the room was on fire. He didn't want to touch this kind of conversation, either.

"I can't forgive you," Matthew muttered, finally, after the suffocating silence.

"I can't forgive myself, either," Alfred shrugged helplessly. "You know everything, huh?"

"I don't get a choice, right?" Matthew leaned against a wall, looking at Alfred's feet. Alfred looked at Matthew, but only because he wasn't looking at him. "I just…wake up after they knocked me out because they didn't trust me and my motives…and then they trust me to run a country they probably don't even care about."

"The team I was with didn't want this," Alfred shook his head and took a small step forward. Matthew didn't move away. That was a good thing. Improvement. "They…"

"They fought for their ideals," Matthew muttered darkly. "You don't get that when you win a revolution. What did you fight for?"

"I saw…" Alfred licked his lips and leaned against the bed. "When we went to Merkatus, I saw a city where people were happy, where they had time to do what they wanted. When I was in the cities that housed revolutionaries, kids were able to have fun and adults could just…walk around. I know Ivan was working on it, working out the kinks, and everything should have been fine, but…"

"That's only if Ivan was really running things, isn't it?" Matthew sighed and finally looked up, not exactly meeting Alfred's eyes but close enough. "You wanted things to be like that?"

"I wanted what Ivan said he wanted," Alfred sighed. "I don't…I don't know what he was like, really. But I'm more than willing to settle on remembering him as the king he showed us. I don't care if that's not what he was like," Alfred took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair, while Matthew looked at his own feet, "but that's all I've got of him. I don't care about all of these what-ifs about his past or any of that, okay? Can that be one thing we agree on, at least?"

"Fine," Matthew nodded. He took a deep breath, looking Alfred in the eye. "Okay."

Alfred nodded in response. "So…looks like we're a team now, whether we like it or not, huh?"

"I don't think there will be much chance of either of us leaving," Matthew half-joked, but Alfred still winced. "We'll still be obeying orders, not too far from the original plan."

"You're for it?" Alfred asked.

"One of your friends," Matthew shook his head. "He told me something interesting. If we're believing in an Ivan that was a good man, that stayed up for days on end for the sake of the country he believed in, then I think that, while he was being controlled, he tried to make it work. He tried to go beyond the nobles that controlled him and make things better. If he did that, then we can do the same."

"Then I'm in, too," Alfred nodded. Matthew blinked at him, half in surprise. "I'm not separating from you again, Mattie." There was a moment of silence that stretched between them for quite some time. "Promise me one thing, alright?"

"What?"

"The first thing we do," Alfred looked him dead in the eye, "is we make sure slavery is illegal."

Matthew gave him a long look before offering a small smile.

"Deal."

"Alright, so the story is that your parents were killed and you were held as prisoners," Mathias said clearly. "They didn't have the heart to kill a couple of children and you were raised by servants. We found you when we took the capital building. Got that?"

"Yes," Alfred nodded, walking beside Matthew. The leaders of Merkatus were in front of them, Yao and Feliks behind them. The assassins were behind them and in front of them, on the lookout just in case. A country just after a revolution was a terrifying place, anyone could try anything. Up until the new government was proclaimed. In just a few minutes.

"No one is going to know about your past," Mathias made it clear, there was no room to argue. Alfred nearly smirked when the idea came to mind that he wasn't Ivan. Alfred felt zero obligation to actually follow any orders. He was just doing it out of the kindness of his own heart at this rate. He glanced at Matthew, who seemed to be biting back the same smirk. It did them some good, gave them some confidence that they were on the same page; but definitely not the same page as everyone else. "Am I clear?"

"Of course," Matthew nodded. Alfred noticed Arthur look back at them from the front, beside Gilbert. They equally shared a look of nervousness, like they weren't sure how this was going to go. Alfred hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to anyone from the revolutionary group. In fact, the leaders decided that it was too dangerous for the two assassins to be allowed to walk around wherever they wanted, and so they were forced to stay in their room for quite some time before they were "summoned" for the unveiling event. The news of Matthew leaving the room must have left them nervous.

"All of our security and military are outside," Yao reported, mostly for the benefit of Mathias, who seemed to be the one running the show at this rate. "Most of the country has made their way into the capital for the announcement and who knows how they're going to react."

"Who knows, maybe they'll be, like, totally stoked," Feliks shrugged. "I would be, finally getting rid of-"

"Don't be an idiot," Yao snapped at him and Feliks snapped his mouth shut. They were still scared of them. After all, they were the two best assassins on the continent, at the very least. That did give Alfred a little bit of pride. One good thing to come out of being trained for his entire life.

"Wait here," Mathias said clearly as they approached a door that lead to the entrance of the capital building. Alfred could only guess what kind of set up there was in front of it, but there must have been a system to spread the news across the country, most likely through television or radio or something of the like. The leaders of Merkatus walked out of the door, most likely to lead up to the big announcement. Feliks and Yao carefully stepped around them to join the five, closing the door loudly.

"They're scared," Alfred noted quietly, beside Matthew. He regarded his clothing, the most elaborate and fancy clothing that their country definitely couldn't afford. They certainly were fitting their role of decorative figureheads.

"They should be," Matthew said proudly. The other assassins stood around them, though not close enough to hear them. They weren't necessarily afraid, simply wary. This was it.

"Alfred," Arthur said and Alfred glanced at him. He would do what he could for him, knowing full well what he dealt with in his past. But Alfred wasn't entirely sure if he could interact with him like he did before. So much had happened, so much was going to happen… "Good luck. You as well, Matthew." Matthew nodded to him.

"Don't fuck up, alright?" Lovino offered to them. Alfred could hear the faint reverberations of Mathias talking through a microphone, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.

"I'll try my best," Alfred said simply. Lovino was certainly adapting well to the fact that he couldn't kill Matthew. Perhaps he planned on it, now just wasn't the right time to try. Alfred noticed Matthew catch Francis' eye with a slight nod. He still refused to look at Gilbert. Alfred leaned close to Matthew to say something without the others hearing. "You know," Alfred whispered, "all considering, you should try to do something about Gilbert."

"I'm…working on it," Matthew sighed. "I accepted you back, didn't I?"

Alfred hummed before changing the subject. "So…do you think we'll get to kill anyone?"

"God, I hope so," Matthew laughed slightly.

The doors opened.

Alfred could clearly see, through the faceless crowd, Feliciano, Elizabeta, Roderich, Kiku, Ivan, all of the nameless faces he had committed to memory. Alfred and Matthew stepped out together and Alfred was blinded by the flash of the crowd, deafened by the roar of the audience. Mathias was obviously very good at riling up a crowd for a desired end. The people before him didn't even know he'd killed hundreds of people just like them. If Ivan was still alive, he probably would have killed hundreds more.

Alfred clenched his jaw. He wasn't used to all of this attention. He preferred living among the shadows, where only a select few knew of his existence. Matthew tensed as well and Alfred latched their hands together. The whole country had their eyes on them, quite possibly the world, if Alfred knew anything about it.

He gave the best, most innocent smile he could muster, moving his and Matthew's hands up proudly above their heads. Matthew echoed his smile as the crowd's roar surged.

If they wanted an innocent prince who had been trapped with his brother in a cell for years, that was what he would give them. No one could see the murderous intent lingering behind their eyes. And they never would until it was too late.

And we're done! Yay! This took forever for me to do, partly because of the mess of graduation around me and my family, but also partly because it was very difficult to get out, no idea why. I'm very happy with the ending, though. They're not exactly back to normal, but they're figuring it out. And they've got their own little Ivan to cling to in their heads.

Anywho, main plot is done! If anyone has any questions, PM me or whatever and I'll answer them happily. We still have some backstories and that might explain a few things. I'm going through all of the major characters, including Ivan, don't worry. And then I'll be officially done! Yay!

Anyway, please review! And I'll see you next time with a combined backstory of Feli, Lovi, and Antonio.