...Ciao everybody...!
...Sit back und ENJOY...
The Sentient's word ringed through his head.
Feliciano couldn't believe it.
He didn't want to believe it.
He stared at the black piece in the Sentient's hand with horror. He tried to get as far away from it, as if it were infected. "What…n-no…"
Everyone else in the room was also astounded, and couldn't even say one single word. Silence reigned supreme.
-Until the Sentient chuckled, straightening up again and twirling the Queen with his fingers. "Oh, Feliciano. Do I really have to repeat myself? I said that you are my most faithful RED. The plan we designed together is almost complete, even if you did show up at my doorstep uninvited. That certainly was a surprise, you know."
Feliciano was trembling, and he slowly fell on his knees, staring at the black Queen. "W-what…? No…it's not true…"
"You never were a mistake, Feliciano. This has always been planned. By the two of us."
The magic-like silence shattered.
"Bullshit!" Romano shouted.
"Lies!" Arthur exclaimed.
"You're lying! Don't listen to him, Feli!" Ludwig yelled, struggling in his binds again.
Everyone started shouting again, mostly at the Nightmare but also at Feliciano, to stay strong and not to listen. The Sentient flicked one finger, bored, and the black tendrils smacked them all against the ground. He calmly walked towards Ludwig, who was squirming the hardest to free himself.
"Looks like you care a lot about little Feli. And you are quite the fighter…hm?" The Sentient purred, placing his heel on the German's cheek.
Ludwig growled. "Shut up. Liar."
The Nightmare laughed hard. "Hahahaha! Me, liar! Hahaha, oh, Ludwig, you are so blind. You are all so blind…! Before calling me a liar, you should try and open your eyes. Ludwig, you had a liar by your side this whole time, and you never even noticed." He finished the sentence hissing.
"Shut up!" the German snarled, the Sentient's heel still on his jaw.
"I-it's not true, Ludwig…I'm not a RED…! I'm not a liar…!" Feliciano muttered, first unsure and with his voice shaking. Then, he repeated, afraid he hadn't heard him. "I'm not a liar!"
The Sentient looked up from the German. "Are you really that sure, Feliciano?"
Feliciano gulped. "O-of course! I'm not a liar!" He repeated, trying to encourage himself. He slowly got onto his feet, shaking.
"How can you be so sure…? Do you believe him, Ludwig?" the Sentient purred at the German under his foot.
"As if I'd believe you over Feliciano." He spat. "Of course I believe him!"
"Exactly! Shut up, you fucking freak!" Romano butted in, defending his brother.
The Sentient shook his head clicking his tongue, disappointed. "Uh-uh-uh. So much faith… You should know better, dear Ludwig. You doubted him, when you first met him, right? An instinct, perhaps, warned you. You knew something was wrong."
Ludwig stiffened. "How do you even-"
"Answer me." The Nightmare hissed, pressing down his foot and earning a groan of pain. The Sentient seemed to enjoy causing pain, both physical and psychological.
"Stop that!" Kiku shouted. Feliciano blinked, turning to look at the Japanese, as did the Sentient, cocking his head to one side.
"Ah, Kiku. Poor Kiku. You thought you could see the all truth and lies behind the others' eyes. Sadly enough, you failed…while he, this guy here, was right. But nobody believed him. And in the end, he was also fooled! Like all the others!" He looked down at the German and pressed down even more on his jaw. Ludwig let out a short groan, before clenching his teeth. He would not give the monster any satisfaction of screaming.
"Ah yes. Indeed you are a fighter." The Nightmare mocked, lifting his foot. Then he kicked Ludwig's face with it, earning a yelp.
"You monster!" Feliciano cried out, finally snapping out of it. He ran towards the Nightmare, not having the slightest idea of what he should do. The Sentient 'smiled' again, and sidestepped, finally leaving the German's face alone. Feliciano panted. He was feeling drowsy and light-headed, the lava in his stomach kept burning… He fell down on his knees, putting gingerly a hand on Ludwig's jaw. It was bruised, and was already turning purple.
"L-Ludwig…!" He stammered, as he felt tears swell up in his eyes. He felt so guilty…But why?! He hadn't done anything wrong…! He was pretty sure he wasn't a liar. He would never do that. Never.
Ludwig swallowed drily, and then weakly smiled. "Don't worry Feliciano. I believe you."
"Ludwig, how can you even believe him? He has lost all his memory, hasn't he…?" The Sentient mocked, walking around the bodies that littered the ground.
"S-stop…" Feliciano whispered. One tear rolled down his cheek.
"Indeed, he has! So even if he doesn't remember it, he is a RED…!"
"Stop it…" The Italian's knuckles turned white.
"He has been working with me and for me, this whole time…"
"STOP IT!" Feliciano shouted, standing up. Furious tears were rolling down his cheek, and his hands, balled up into fists, were at his sides, trembling. "It's not true! I would never, ever work for the likes of you…! I would never lie to my friends!"
The Sentient fell silent for a couple of seconds, then he resumed walking around. As if he were taking an afternoon stroll, and he totally changed the subject.
"Feliciano…didn't you ever wonder why, or how, you could cure the Nightmares, or even the REDs…? Hmm?"
Feliciano swallowed. "N-no…" he answered honestly.
"Exactly. Did you ever wonder why you seemed toxic to Nightmares?" he slowly started heading towards him. "Why is it that I didn't tie you up like the others? It would be much easier, wouldn't it? But alas, I can't touch you. Not without me getting hurt, I mean."
Something sparked in Feliciano's mind. That meant that maybe he had a chance…! If he touched him-
"Ah-ah-ah, I know what you're thinking. I wouldn't do that, if I were you." The Nightmare mockingly shook a finger in front of him.
Feliciano brought up his right arm, and flexed his fingers. "You just said I was toxic to you. I remember now, you are right…when I cured that Nightmare, he got scorched…I should do that to you!" he shouted, before running towards the Sentient, arm outstretched.
The Nightmare dodged him, and distanced himself a little.
"Ah, but you forgot…"
The Sentient was at his side instantly, and he whispered something in his ear.
"…that Nightmares are also toxic to you."
That being said, the Sentient lightly touched the Italian on his right shoulder, and Feliciano screamed.
"Feli!"
"Feliciano!"
"Fuuuuuuck!"
Feliciano staggered, clutching his shoulder. He looked down, and realized with horror that the blue scales were spreading from under the bandages on his forearm.
The Sentient waltzed around the room, occasionally kicking somebody on purpose.
"Hahaha! Ah, little Feli, I probably know what you're thinking! 'But what about the REDs, then?' You are toxic only to Nightmares, my friend. The REDs do not count! REDs are somewhere between the humans and Nightmares… so your body does not recognize them as threats…! Oh, but that's also because you're a RED yourself. I bet you didn't sense Francis, the first time you met him, did you? You started feeling REDs only after you had cured him!" he paused by the Frenchman's side, and kicked his shins for sheer entertainment. "Because he was exactly like you. Actually, no. You were, I have to admit, a…strange RED. You even didn't need to feed on humans!"
He laughed, and came to a halt for the second time by somebody's side. The tendrils brought the person up to the Sentient's eye level. It was Arthur.
"Ah, Arthur dear. I can see the cogs in your mind turning… You also couldn't find an explanation to it all, am I wrong?" the Nightmare chuckled, moving some blond bangs from the Brit's forehead with a clawed finger.
Arthur grimaced, and then spat in the Sentient's face.
The Sentient froze, and slowly cleaned his masked cheek. His violet eyes had become glacial, colder than any winter, as he stared at the growling Brit. "…Bad boy." The tendrils started constricting themselves around the Brit's body, and he started screaming.
Feliciano remembered in horror how the tendrils had scrapped the metal of the tank. The Sentient was probably crushing Arthur's bones right now. "Stop!" He lunged forward, pressing his palm on the Sentient's broad back. His whole arm burned as if he had put it in boiling oil, but the Nightmare recoiled, dropping the Brit on the ground and jumping away from the Italian.
Feliciano fell on his knees beside the Brit, however he didn't have the faintest idea of what to do to help.
The Sentient hissed, touching his back, as some smoke originated from the spot Feliciano had touched. Then, he composed himself, as if nothing had happened, and the tendrils stopped crushing Arthur's frame.
"Feliciano, please do not interrupt me while I'm trying to explain everything to you. Be a good boy, дa?"
"Why are you doing this!?" Feliciano shouted out of sheer exasperation. He felt as if the Sentient could hold his very essence in his clawed hands, and he was slowly tearing it apart. Slowly, and painfully, in tiny little shreds…
The Sentient shrugged. "…Because it is fun, of course! I've been bored for more than a year…do you even know how alone, how empty I've felt?" he asked, clutching his chest dramatically. Feliciano frowned. Was he telling them the truth, or was he acting…? He honestly couldn't tell.
"That's why I want to put in a little drama, here. I want to have some fun, is that really so bad? I'm really enjoying, this, aren't you?"
He received no answer, and continued as if nothing had happened. He pointed a clawed finger at the wheezing Brit. "That man over there couldn't understand what you were. You had this special ability of curing. However, you had something strange on your hand… and you weren't a Nightmare, or a RED… or so he thought. Let me tell you…no, actually, wait. Why don't you tell the others, Romano?" the Sentient purred, turning towards the older Italian.
"…The fuck?!" Romano growled, as he was lifted into the air as well, until he was at the Sentient's eye level.
"Why don't you tell everyone here how, more than a year ago, Feliciano…died in your arms…?" the Sentient whispered mockingly, stressing the 'd' word.
"What…?" Tino whispered.
"He…died…?" Ludwig murmured, unbelieving, his gaze darting back and forth from the Sentient to Feliciano.
Romano grimaced. "Shuddup…L-let me go…" he whispered, terrified by those violet orbs. Those eyes seemed to burn with purple flames, but they were as cold as ice at the same time. And he felt as if they were boring into his very soul.
"I…I…"
"Pray tell us, Romano. We're all listening."
"F-fuck…"Romano was trembling uncontrollably, as he stared into those amethyst eyes. Suddenly, it seemed to him that they became bigger and bigger, until he got swallowed up by them…he fell into the darkness…and the next moment he was holding a dying Feliciano in his arms, blood oozing from the wound in his chest…
He started screaming. He curled all up on himself in midair, trying to block the shocking memory.
"…Romano!" Antonio exclaimed, worried at the sudden outburst.
"Roma!" Feliciano shouted. "You! Stop, whatever you're doing! Stop!" the Sentient definitely had done something to his brother. He had seen it. The horrified expression on Romano's face, as he had locked his eyes with the Nightmare's…
"Oh? But I merely showed him something he had already seen. Oh well."
The Sentient brusquely dropped Romano on the floor again, and the Italian stopped screaming. He was crying silent tears now, sobbing with his gaze lost somewhere in space.
"…Bastard…" Antonio snarled. "…You'll pay for this!"
The Nightmare shrugged again. "Anyway…Feliciano. Let me explain this all to you, since you obviously can't remember. Hmm, let's see. That day, you got infected by the RED infection that was originally destined for your brother. You, ah!, heroically jumped in front of him, and you got hit instead. Now, the RED infection normally has two outcomes. One." He put up his index finger. "The human has a significant sin, and so the infection enhances it, and eventually transforms the human into a RED. Two." Another finger got up. "There is no relevant sin, or it is not big enough to enhance. So the infection turns against the body, and kills it from the inside as if it were a poison. You however, did not feature in any of the two cases."
Feliciano swallowed, waiting for the explanation despite himself.
"Let's see, how should I put this…ah yes. You, Feliciano, were simply…too innocent. You were too innocent for the infection to have some effect. You weren't afflicted by Jealousy, Lust, Vainglory, Greed… heck, not even by Sloth or Gluttony which are some of the most common! You just were too pure. Spotless. Innocent. So the infection somehow had to adapt, and how did it do that? I do not know exactly, but I guess it simply sealed all of your innocence away, so it could infect the body. Once the innocence had been put away, the infection should have killed you, or it shouldn't have acted at all, because there was nothing to act on. However, it somehow happened, and the day after you died you woke up like one of my REDs. So you were a RED, but you indeed were a strange one. For instance, you didn't have an armour of some sort. You still kept completely your human appearance. And you had, like all the other REDs, a stunning ability."
Feliciano's hands were shaking uncontrollably now. Every word the Nightmare said was like a stab to his heart, but the most terrifying thing was that…somehow he knew…he was telling the truth.
He looked up from his trembling hands, and his gaze locked with the Sentient's. His sight got filled with those violet eyes that burned… He fell into those eyes… and he heard a order, echoing deep in his mind and making his bones tremble from inside. "Do it." Something clicked in Feliciano. An electric shiver somehow went through his body. His shoulders jerked and he blinked, as the vision disappeared. Feliciano furiously shook his head, tearing his gaze from those eyes. What had happened…? He saw with the corner of the eye that his friends shuddered in their black binds, on the floor.
The Sentient was still talking, as he waltzed around the room again.
"Ah, such a stunning ability you have indeed, Feliciano! It was actually terrifying for me, because you could cure anything you touched, me included. However…"
The Sentient's voice dropped a tone or two, as he ominously continued talking. Suddenly, Feliciano heard a scream, followed suit by others, until the room was filled with them. Feliciano looked around in panic, and saw everyone trash about in their binds, while they were screaming, groaning or whimpering.
"What did you do!?" Feliciano screeched, as he went from body to body, not knowing what to do to help. Ludwig, Kiku, Romano, Francis, Arthur, Gilbert… everyone was writhing and howling in pain, eyes shut. He fell on his knees yet again between Ludwig and Kiku, still not knowing what to do. "What did you do to them!?" he repeated, as tears of panic were rolling down his cheeks.
The Sentient didn't answer, this time. Feliciano tried to comfort the two he was kneeling beside. "Shh…Shh…" He was about to touch Ludwig's face, when the Nightmare spoke up.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." The Sentient warned him.
"What did you do!?" Feliciano screamed again. He was so terrified right now he was feeling numb. He watched in horror, incapable of helping, as his friends contorted on the floor in pain.
"Bzzzt! Wrong question! The question should be, Feliciano, what did you do."
"What!?"
"…You remembered only one of the two sides of your blade, little Feli. Not only you can cure…"
Feliciano stared at the Sentient in horror, not sure if he wanted to hear what was coming next.
"…But you can also infect, and create REDs with one, simple, touch."
Francis' attention to the Sentient's constant talking wavered. A strange feeling was slowly building inside of him, and he felt his skin tingle. His heart skipped a beat, as he realized where he had felt this before.
No…
No, no, no, nonononononono…
His head started hurting, and it felt as if it was moments from exploding like a balloon. His skin started to feel itchy, and his torso hurt…However his back hurt more than anything, it was burning, as was his heart…
…No!
He hunched his shoulders screaming, as light blue wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, ripping his clothes.
Lukas' heart constricted with fear, when it was jabbed by something that felt like a dagger of ice. His dull blue eyes widened, as realisation struck him. He knew where he had felt this, before.
He curled all up on himself groaning, and tried to keep warm. But it was too late, he already felt his body temperature drop dramatically, his heartbeat slow down, and his breath start become laboured.
No…please no…not again…
Contrasting the freezing cold that was overwhelming him from inside, he felt the base of his back burn. He screamed, as the dark blue tail emerged from the base of his spine.
Gilbert groaned, as he curled up on himself. He felt sick.
His skin started to tingle, and his fingers twitched on their own accord. He knew that he had felt this before…
Nein… he grimaced, as he desperately tried to stop his hands from twitching. He didn't want this…not again!
His head felt as if it were moments from exploding, and started screaming when he felt himself become much more heavier, shoulders twitching as electricity flowed through them.
Antonio wheezed, as he felt his heart burn inside his chest. Scratch that, his whole body was on fire. He started panicking when he felt the lower half of his face suddenly blocked. He couldn't move his lips…he suddenly realized that they were gone.
No…!
He heard his own ragged breaths, and he heard they were starting to become distorted.
No, no, no…
He howled, arching his back, as he felt his body being covered up by the heavy crimson armour again.
Feliciano started hyperventilating, when he saw Ludwig's jaw and neck become covered with black scales. No, this wasn't happening! Its couldn't be possible!
"No!" he screamed. "Ludwig, no!"
The German didn't respond to Feliciano's shouts, as he kept his eyes closed and his bared teeth clenched.
Feliciano turned to the Japanese. "Kiku!" Kiku's eyes were wide, while his breath became faster and faster. Golden scales started to from on the Japanese's arms.
"No!" Feliciano stood up and desperately looked left and right. Romano was coughing and wheezing, as dark green scales started covering his face and shoulders. Almost everyone was starting to become covered with those dreadful scales…
Suddenly, Antonio, Lukas, Gilbert and Francis screamed all at the same time, and Feliciano noticed they had reverted back to their RED appearance. As soon as the transformation had finished, the black tendrils restraining them disappeared, and they could move freely.
Feliciano was scared. So, so scared. He looked around desperately searching for help, anything. He saw the Sentient chuckle, as he kneeled beside Matthew. The Canadian wasn't showing any scales, so why did he look in pain like all the others…?
"Oh, little Matvey…it seems like this is not you lucky day! You do not fulfill the requirement…"
Matthew coughed and writhed in his coils, and Feliciano's heart skipped a beat, as he realized what the Sentient meant.
The Nightmare laughed. "You'll simply die! До свидания, it was nice knowing you. Oh, Feliciano, while we're at it, I think you'll have to say goodbye to some people! For instance, Matvey here, Emil, Bella and Tino… They will not see tomorrow's dawn."
Feliciano felt the world crumble around his feet, as he realized this had been all his fault. "No…" he still didn't understand everything, but he felt that the dreadful words the Nightmare had spoken were true. They had lost.
Everything was lost.
"Felicianoooo!" Ludwig roared. Feliciano's head snapped sideways to look at the German, two or more meters between them. Ludwig had gotten on his knees. He was panting, black scales were marring his face and neck, but his blue eyes burned with determination. "Don't you dare give up! Fight him!"
The Sentient somehow appeared beside the German. "Oh? What do we have here? Wrath? Impressive, Ludwig. You'll be one of the strongest."
As if to prove this fact, in that exact moment, Ludwig freed himself from the black bindings. Or, almost. One or two zigzagging tendrils still held on to his frame, but it didn't matter. If it was because of the sheer desperation, or the newly acquired strength of a RED, Ludwig didn't know. And honestly, he didn't care, as he finally stood up again. All he wanted now was to pound the Nightmare's face in the dirt, hit him until he broke that damn armour of his, and then break his bones, and then break more bones, until he was nothing but red mush… Ludwig stopped for the slightest of moments. Since when had he been so violent…? So…angry? He shook his head, as he directed all of his hate towards the Sentient. He lunged for him with his now black clawed right hand, but missed.
The Nightmare jumped backwards, and nodded towards the four original REDs.
"Get him."
The REDs growled, and jumped towards the German, whirling past the Sentient and Feliciano.
"LUDWIG!" Feliciano screamed getting up on one knee, wanting to help him. However, something blocked him. Again, an order echoed in his mind. "Stop."
What was that? Why did he hear that? How? And why did he have to…to obey!? Because indeed, he found himself blocked, unable to move. Just as the voice had said, he had stopped.
Suddenly, he understood. Of course. It was the Sentient. And if he was a RED… it meant he could control him…
"It was you!" He screamed accusingly at the Sentient. "You did this! I didn't!"
The Nightmare bent down until they were at eye level. Feliciano winced at this and leaned backwards, he was scared to look at those violet eyes, but somehow he didn't look away. "Well…maybe I did order you do to it. But in the end, it is your ability, not mine. It's still your fault, little Feli."
Feliciano grimaced, scowling at the Sentient. "…Then…Then…! Then I will make it right again!" He tried to stand up, but was blocked again.
"Don't move."
He gritted his teeth, as he felt his muscles stop moving at the order. He felt so utterly useless! He saw Ludwig with the corner of his eye, trying to fend off Francis and Gilbert alone. And was he seeing things, or was Ludwig's skull mask already forming…?
"Let me show you some things, hm? I bet images will be worth thousands words, and I'm kind of getting tired of talking." The Sentient purred, making a gesture to cup Feliciano's chin, but luckily restraining himself in time. Feliciano shut his eyes quickly and bowed his head sideways. He would not fall for his tricks again…
The Nightmare chuckled.
"You are so brave, Feliciano. I mean it! However, I also have to add…you are kind of dense." He paused, looking up at his REDs and the humans that were struggling, before looking down again. "Look at me."
Feliciano's eyes snapped open against his will, and his eyesight was filled with those dreadful eyes.
...
And then, he started remembering.
Feliciano was standing in front of the Sentient, who in turn was sitting on his chair. It was pretty dark in the room, so he wondered how he could even distinguish the dark figure from its surroundings. Feliciano opened his mouth to speak, but his voice sounded distant, as if echoing through a tunnel.
"How am I alive?"
In addition to the distant echo of his voice, it also seemed different, somehow.
Colder. Unfeeling. This wasn't him…right?
The Sentient chuckled. "Honestly, I do not know. You tell me, Feliciano."
"And what about this hand? It hurts. As does my gut, whenever I am around you." Feliciano moved up his hand so the Nightmare could see there was a small slash running on the back of it. It hurt, however, it was not bleeding.
"Well…That's yet another mystery, hm?"
...
"I don't get why humans are so stubborn. They are still hiding, fighting and surviving, despite all odds."
"I rather enjoy that about them. Even if they are doomed, they still fight."
"It's stupid. And meaningless."
"It's a pity they'll probably all become Nightmares."
A pause. Feliciano saw something flash in the Sentient's eyes.
"What are you thinking about…?"
"…Oh, nothing."
…
"It's the stupidest thing I have ever heard…!"
"It's not."
"Well, I don't want to do it!"
"You probably haven't realized yet that you don't have a choice. You, after all, are still a RED. However different you might be. You will obey, willing or not."
Feliciano gulped.
"…Fine."
"Good boy. Now, repeat to me what you have to do."
Feliciano sighed and started reciting, bored. "Go outside, wander around until I find some surviving humans. Given my appearance, they will not think I am an enemy. I will join them, and find their hiding place. I have to find the strongest out of these humans. If possible, find even other survivors and make them join." He paused. "I still don't get why, though."
The Sentient sighed, and stood up.
"Despite of what you might think, I admire the humans. At least, the ones that survived all of this. The ones that didn't get infected. The ones that are still fighting. I'm convinced that those are the world's finest humans. And it would be a pity for those to become dumb, nonspeaking mindless creatures, дa? If they happened to become Nightmares, all those astounding features that guaranteed them survival up until now would be lost. I get it that there are still many humans surviving, that's why I'll wait. We will wait. Days. Months. Actually, maybe I should wait a whole year. Yes, that sounds good. By then the number of survivors would probably have thinned considerably."
Feliciano still didn't understand. "It makes no sense! You say you want to save humanity, and then you say you'll wait until their numbers have decreased? You are contradicting yourself. And your own nature."
The Sentient chuckled. "If we acted now, then they wouldn't be the world's finest now, would they? I'll give them one year. Let's see if there are some who are stubborn enough to pull through all of this."
"And then what!?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"What will you do once the year will be over? I don't get it! I doubt you'd give them a medal. Or wait, maybe we should offer them some tea and biscuits, and give them a pat on their back!"
The Sentient answered after one whole minute, and his voice was a mere whisper.
"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out by yourself already. They obviously are not Nightmares, and neither could they remain human. They wouldn't last. And they would not listen to me, even if what I'm doing is for their sake. …So they will become REDs, thanks to your ability. They will all retain their memories, their achievements, their struggles… Let's say that we'll help them up the stairs of evolution, hm?"
"So you see yourself as a liberator."
"…I like the word 'saviour' better."
…
Feliciano was walking through the twentieth city already. He was tired, and the sun was setting behind angry clouds. It looked like it could rain any minute now.
A year had passed. Actually, fourteen months had. The Sentient had gotten other three REDs, too. And finally, the Sentient had sent him out for that idiotic mission.
He really didn't see the point in all of this… but of course, he couldn't refuse the order of the 'almighty saviour of humanity'. He scoffed.
Suddenly, he lost his balance.
Maybe it was because of his tiredness. Maybe it was because he had stepped into a puddle. Maybe it was because he had been distracted.
Either way, he slipped.
And fell.
And hit his head roughly on the side of a boulder.
"Ah!"
The next word he spoke, a good hour later, was a word he had not said in more than a year. A clueless tone accompanied that single word.
"…Ve…"
…
The scene somehow changed. These weren't his memories anymore. These were the Sentient's memories.
…
"Feliciano's been acting strange, lately… I still have not heard of him since six days ago. Strange. I wonder what happened."
He was idly playing with a random chess piece, twirling it in his black hands. He hadn't played chess in a long time. Maybe he should go and fetch his old game boards…?
…
A Human Nightmare left his room. He had been informed with truly unsettling news.
"Feliciano has joined some survivors…but he has lost his memory?"
That could be a problem.
Actually, no, it could be something useful. Like this, the humans would trust Feliciano more. And Feliciano's ability guaranteed success. He simply needed to touch the person once. Then, even if it was months later, he could start the process of the infection whenever he wanted.
How convenient.
He smiled, and picked up his old chess games. He should arrange his plans accordingly to the changed situation. Maybe he could put the world's finest through another test.
A test against his REDs sounded good.
…
"Ah, Francis has lost against them."
Not that he was surprised. He had sent him for one purpose only, and that was to lose against the humans, and then be cured by Feliciano. If he actually remembered he could do that.
Luckily, he had.
And now, he could follow their every move from inside their hiding place. To be more precise, from Francis' eyes.
He straightened his spine, as he heard the other three return. He had to put up a decent act. He should be angry they had lost their comrade, no?
…
Something he had seen from Francis' eyes unsettled him.
What was that on Feliciano's hand…?
He had actually never found an answer before, but to be all honest, he had also kind of forgotten about it.
He would pay more attention to that from that moment.
Also, he had learnt that that Brit guy could use magic. Magic! He hadn't even thought it could exist…! Humans truly were remarkable. And without him, abilities like that would surely disappear. He really was doing something good.
It was all for their own good.
…
Now even Lukas had been defeated. Not without effort, but it was impressive nonetheless. He had also just received notice from his Nightmares that they had found humans who travelled around with a tank.
"My, this could get interesting. Why not bring them together…?"
…
He was angry. His Nightmares had attacked the three stray humans with the tank so they would move in the right direction. However, one had been infected.
Feliciano had to get there and fix it as soon as possible.
…
Gilbert had been the best choice after all. And he himself had also played his cards right. He had noticed that Feliciano's right hand had gotten worse.
And he had finally understood what it was. That white crystal-like thing. It was Feliciano's innocence that had been sealed away. And that innocence, which was opposed to the RED infection, was getting stronger. So if a RED happened to be nearby, around that time, the innocence would automatically head for the RED to cure it.
At least so he had thought.
It had been a risky assumption, in the end. He didn't know if that state was going to last. But luckily, it was exactly what had happened. Feliciano had walked on his own away from the others, towards Gilbert, so that the RED could bring him to the humans with the tank. Feliciano had obviously cured the Nightmare-infected human in a jiffy.
What he didn't understand was why the innocence was emerging now, of all times.
However, it still meant that Feliciano's innocence was getting stronger.
What would the RED side of Feliciano do, to counteract…?
…
Hm, apparently, to counteract the growing strength of the innocence, Feliciano was starting to manifest RED features on his hand. And the other REDs received a strange feeling when around Feliciano. He had erased their memories of the Italian long before any of this started, but their instincts told them that he was dangerous. And little did they know that they couldn't be more right.
He had to hurry up.
He had to distract them. He had to move them out of that mountain, towards a place that was nearer to him. Hmm, Feliciano could feel Nightmares, right…? That could be most useful.
Oh, and Antonio had to be readied.
…
"Good grief! That foolish idiot!"
Antonio had almost killed one of them! Sure, he had meant it to be a good and spectacular fight, but he had predicted the Spaniard would have had to deal with more than a dozen opponents. Not that his RED would make almost a whole building collapse on itself…! Luckily, everything was still going smoothly.
Also, even more fortunately, that Brit and Lukas could use magic. It still amazed him that it existed in the first place.
Anyway, they were in the corridor of Nightmares that he had arranged. It wouldn't be long until they reached their destination, only one city away from where he was right now…
However, he was still worried about his sist-
"Now, that will be enough." The Sentient interrupted the flow of images, but didn't free him from that strange bind. So his vision was all black.
However, beside the Nightmare's words, he heard also other sounds. They were muffled, as if behind some kind of glass…
They were fighting sounds.
Feliciano flinched, when he heard Ludwig yelp. He wanted to help them. He really wanted to. With all his soul, he didn't want it all to be true. But what the Sentient had showed him… he knew… it was all real…
He felt so helpless, and he was a...a traitor.
An image of the Sentient appeared in front of him. "Do you see now, Feliciano? Do you understand?"
Feliciano barely had any strength or willpower left to open his mouth to reply. He felt drained of all his energy, simply…empty. All he had lived for, everything he had experienced, it had all been a lie. It was never meant for him to go like this.
He remembered the moment when he fell and hit his head now. It gave him an all too familiar feeling. He had dreamt about it almost every night, in his nightmares: he kept falling, and falling, and falling, over and over again.
He also remembered all the good times he had had with the others.
Kiku, Arthur, Berwald, Tino, Mathias, Bella, Francis, Alfred, Lukas, Emil, Yao, Matthew, Gilbert, Antonio... And of course, Romano and Ludwig. They had all been so happy...
"I-I…"
"You do understand that all I want to do is to help them. Just like you. We're helping them!" The Nightmare exclaimed, enthusiastic about it all.
Feliciano frowned, almost disgusted. Of course he wasn't helping them! They would only become his pawns! But in his distorted way of seeing the world, the Sentient indeed saw himself as a saviour.
He had become completely crazy.
"You're crazy…" he mumbled, slowly shaking his head, trying to make his head feel less numbed. His thoughts were all hazy, somehow…
"That's not true, and you know it. Because we designed this plan together, Feliciano. And without you, it would have never been complete." Oh God, he almost sounded like a proud teacher prising his best student.
"…But I didn't want any of this!" Feliciano exclaimed, balling his fists. His head was slowly getting less hazy, and the fighting sounds didn't echo as much as before. As if they were getting nearer.
"…Even in that case, you still don't have any choice, hm?" The Sentient purred mockingly, bowing a little to get to his eyelevel. Even if they were both standing, now, the Nightmare was much more taller than the Italian.
Feliciano gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes. He slowly felt he was slipping away from the vision the Nightmare was creating around him. He felt he could also move to his own accord again. Did the Sentient's power on him wear off, maybe…? Honestly, in that moment, he didn't care.
"I still have a choice! I…I can still fix this!" He exclaimed full of determination again.
And then he jumped to grab the Nightmare's face.
The Sentient didn't expect that. At all.
The vision completely disappeared as soon as Feliciano's hands made contact with the black mask, and immediately both of them started screaming in pain. The Sentient straightened up to all his length, and staggered backwards a few steps, trying to shake him off somehow.
But Feliciano did not want to let go. He was so angry at him, he wanted to hurt him in the only way he knew it was possible. So he wrapped his fingers around the front and the sides of the Nightmare's face, not letting go for anything in the world. Even if he himself was burning too.
"Feliciano…!"
Ludwig was having a hard time concentrating on keeping his mind straight. The anger that was boiling inside of him was hard to contain, but he somehow managed to.
However, he had also another issue that needed to be handled. The REDs he was fighting against, Francis and Gilbert, were simply too much for him. Luckily, others that had freed themselves from their binds were helping him, however also half-covered by the RED scales and armour.
Alfred and Kiku were by his side, half of the American's face covered in lead-grey scales, and the Japanese's arms already fully covered in golden coloured armour. His own hands and arms were already covered in black, and his face also felt funny, especially his right temple.
Antonio and Lukas were fighting against Berwald and Mathias and Romano, not too far away from them.
Ludwig knew the Sentient was doing something to Feliciano. Even if they stood in silence, facing each other and not moving a single centimetre from their respective positions. But Feliciano was staring the Nightmare straight in the eyes, and the German knew that could never bring any good.
Suddenly, after fending off one of Francis' attacks, he heard two screams. One distorted, and the other was a voice that Ludwig knew all too well.
Feliciano.
He whirled around to look at the two, and saw the Italian dangling from the Nightmare's face, while the latter was trying desperately to shake him off without touching him further.
"Feliciano!"
Feliciano was also in pain, he could tell. He needed to help him, whatever the cost! He looked around his feet, and saw only guns with empty cartridges, and bullet shells scattered everywhere. He noticed Feliciano's staff not too far away, but that was useless. He however saw something definitely more interesting lying beside that staff.
"Ludwig-san, look out!" Kiku cried out, and Ludwig barely managed to dodge one of Gilbert's electrified kicks. He crouched, rolled, and then got on his feet, dashing for the weapon near the useless wooden staff.
"What! Dude, don't just leave like that!" Alfred complained, avoiding Francis' punch, and then counterattacking immediately.
But Ludwig didn't care. Feliciano was still holding on to the Nightmare's face, and he saw the scales were reaching now all the way up to the Italian's right shoulder, and other scales forming on the other arm as well. He grunted, as he picked up the heavy weapon in his clumsy now clawed hands, and whirled around to immediately head towards the two.
The Sentient finally managed to shake off Feliciano, who fell to the side yelping, his hands fuming. The Nightmare fell on his knees, clutching his face with both hands, moaning in pain. His face was also fuming, and small cracks had appeared.
This was his perfect chance.
Ludwig roared in rage, as he swung his sledgehammer with all the strength he could muster at the Nightmare's face. The Sentient looked up at the sound of the roar, and just got a glimpse of the offending object before it crashed into his face.
There was a loud crack, as the sledgehammer broke through the weakened black armour, the Nightmare's head snapping sideways from the strike. Black splinters and shards flew everywhere, and somehow the sound made everyone in the room stop and fall silent.
The seemingly unbreakable armour had broken.
Not everything was lost…!
Ludwig finally could see the face of their enemy, as he slowly turned his head to face him again.
Those violet eyes were still the same, glowing menacingly.
Ludwig immediately was faced with the sight of a rather big nose, a round face and short wavy pale blond hair. But the most disturbing thing was another one.
The feeling they had always had of the Sentient creepily yet childishly smiling at them had always been an impression. A feeling, exactly.
But now... now the smile really was there, and somehow, that was even more terrifying than before.
Ludwig's nostrils flared, as he stepped back, scared of it. How stupid. How could he be afraid of a simple smile? Somehow, however, it was possible. Everyone in the room was scared and staring silently at the terrifying childish smile, afraid to even move a muscle.
However, Ludwig heard a gasp not too far behind him. Alfred…?
"No way…"
The American's light blue eyes were bewildered, as he stared at the Sentient's features.
"No fucking way in hell…!"
Now everyone was staring at Alfred.
"…Braginski!?"
HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP!
My brain freaking died, writing this...! Oh, my, God. Also, I was confident I had the whole week to write in peace; But the computer disappeared for three whole days! Ergo, PANIC. So here you are, the chapter is finally finished, with all the explanations and shit.
Ivan kind of has become crazy, but we all knew that already. He actually thinks he's doing some good, but yeah, obviously he isn't...!
Oh, and of course, poor Feliciano! ;_;
Errr...
Anyway!
I hope you are all faring well! And yet again, I love you all! But you know that already, don't you? ;)
Also, I hope you liked the chapter! ;) I'll see you all next week!
OH, and also, I posted a POLL on my profile, about my ideas for the next story i could write! :D :D So if you are interested, go look it up and vote. okay? :D
(Remember I love reviews...*wink wink*)
EDIT EDIT EDIT LOOK AT THIS DAMN EDIT! LOOK AT IT!
Guys, life's been kinda crazy these last days, so I can state already that I won't be able to upload this friday...! I'm sorry! D: Don't worry, I will definitely upload, but on the friday of next week! I'm sorry for letting you wait, I really am! I repeat, I WILL update, but on the friday of next week! That means, friday the 5th of July! Ciao everybody, I'll see you then...!