"Nonno, where are we going?" Feliciano asked from his perch on their grandfather's shoulders.

Romulus was youthful for his years, perhaps too youthful. His figure was not yet bent with age, he had a full head of curly brown hair and his face was exempt of wrinkles. Lovina could see a dimple in his smile from her comfortable position in his arms.

"We are going somewhere safe," was Romulus' reply.

Lovina huffed and shaded her eyes against the bright sun. She could see the dusty path ahead of them had no sign of civilization for many miles. "When will we get there?" she complained as if she were the one carrying instead of being carried.

"Soon, little one."

Feliciano had another question, "Mama and Papa will meet us there, right?" Lovina looked up with interest. They hadn't seen their parents in so long…

Thier grandfather looked pained and he didn't answer for a long time. Lovina saw tears gather in his eyes.

"No, they won't. You see, w-when they left us, they were being chased…"

"Mutti…?"

Gilbert stood at the door of his parent's bedroom, befuddled by what he saw. His father was lying on the floor near the window, looking a little crumpled up. His mother was on the bed, but her legs were dangling off it, as if she'd sat up then suddenly fallen asleep again. Gilbert tiptoed over to her and shook her arm. "Mutti, I heard somezhing outside." She didn't move, which was strange since she always woke up when he called for her.

A loud boom and a flash of white light from the window made him yelp and duck beneath the bed in fright. A heavy silence followed, but it gave Gilbert the courage to sneak over to the window, climb up on a stool, and look outside. Directly below him he could see his Aunt Lovi standing next to a prone figure on the ground. She looked angry, angrier than he'd ever seen her, and all her fury was directed towards a black cloud ten feet away from her.

Slowly the cloud cleared, revealing a giant of a man. He wore a black robe but it was torn and the deep cowl had been ripped completely off. The man had ashy blonde hair and creepy purple eyes that made Gilbert shiver.

The man opened his mouth and his words echoed everywhere, the sound was slow and sullen, like molasses. "It would be much simpler if you would willingly come with me to be introduced to my master." He held out a welcoming arm to his aunt, beckoning her.

"You can introduce your face to my boot," Aunt Lovina began, her words high-pitched and livid, "when I break your head open like a-" (Gilbert didn't understand the next word, but it sounded a lot like "ducking") "-WATERMELON!"

The man giggled eerily. "You are just as he described."

"Who described me?"

"You know."

Lovina growled and ducked her head. "Merda!" A sardonic smile appeared, twisted by moonlit shadows. "I should have known, I guess. I felt you coming and I tried to run, but…" Sighing heavily, she took up a fighter's stance.

Once again, the man held out his hand to her. "This need not be. Join us. We are eager to have a descendant of Romulus join our sacred ranks." Romulus? The wandering sorcerer from the old stories? Gilbert strained to hear, almost dangling from the window.

"My grandfather spent his whole life fighting your sadistic cult, like hell I'm going to join, culo!" Lovina yelled. With that ultimatum her hand shot out and another burst of radiant white light shot forth, hitting the evil man squarely in the chest. He grunted loudly and stumbled back but the black fog wrapped itself around the light and smothered it.

"You need to vary your attacks," he commented lightly. "Perhaps you need an example, da? All these simple mortals are under my spell, after all. I could easily kill them and animate their bodies. How would you like to fight their corpses?"

Gilbert bit back a cry of alarm. That man was going to kill everyone! What could he do? What could he do?!

"You wouldn't!" Lovina gasped.

"No, not if you come quietly. If you come now, and do not struggle, I will leave them unharmed." The man tilted his head to one side, his face reflecting pure honesty. Gilbert moaned quietly when he saw his aunt's shoulders slump.

"Vaffanculo… I'll come," she whispered, her voice so soft Gilbert barely heard it. No, not Aunt Lovina! He banged his fist on the table near the window and was surprised by a soft clatter. He looked down and noticed for the first time a crystal-like rock. It was a jagged bit of stone he'd found and given to his mother because it was multicolored and pleasing to the eye. She'd smiled at his gift and promised to keep it, she always kept her promises. Unthinking, he grabbed the rock, smirked when he felt the rough edges, and hurled it at the evil man with a yell.

"HEY!"

Lovina fought back tears of frustration as she slowly walked toward the cultist. What could she do? What could she do?!

"HEY!"

The cultist screamed in pain, doubling over and clutching his bloody forehead. Lovina looked dumbly at the rock lying near his feet, then over her shoulder. Gilbert was practically falling out the window as he waved to her.

"KICK HIS BUTT, AUNT LOVI!" he yelled. Resolve flooded through her and she nodded curtly. Turning back to face her enemy, she raised both hands above her head and flicked her wrists once. A fine white mist replaced the blackness covering the village and the cultist screamed again, this time in frustration.

"What did you do?!" he demanded, struggling to stand.

Lovina smirked and rolled back her sleeves nonchalantly. "This village is under my protection now. You can't touch them. Thank you so much for dropping your guard long enough for me to do so." She was feeling more confident now; only a novice would lose control because of physical pain. Magic came from the soul, not the body.

The young cultist trembled, whether from rage or from fear Lovina couldn't tell, as she encircled them both with white fire. "I'd ask you to tell your cult to stay away from me," she continued, "but frankly, I don't think you'll be seeing them again.

A low muttering came from the man's throat, sounding a lot like, "Kolkolkolkol!" A black snake took shape and started to eat the flames but with a stomp of Lovina's foot a white wolf soon swallowed it whole. The man was sweating now, and his fear was obvious. He shot wave after wave of blackness at Lovina but she batted them aside and made the circle smaller. It harmlessly passed through her, but the zealot was forced to run forward to escape the fire that now trapped only him. He tried one more attack, forming a man with cold, wintry eyes and a sword, but it didn't even pass the flames before it was swallowed up in Lovina's magic.

Lovina mimicked his earlier tone. "You need to vary your attacks. Perhaps you need an example, si? I have you trapped in this fire, after all. Perhaps I should send you to Hell to be the Devil's prostitute."

"You wou- … You can't!" the cultist blustered.

"No… Actually, yes. I totally can." With a cheery wave she did just that. Luckily the roar of flames drowned out his despairing wails.

"...THAT WAS SO AWESOME!"

Lovina flinched and spun around. She'd totally forgotten that Gilbert was watching! Why wasn't he asleep like everyone else anyway?

"AUNT LOVI, WHY IS UNCLE TONI SLEEPING ON THE ROAD?"

Lovina clapped her hands over her mouth. "Mio Dio, Antonio!" She rushed back to the fallen man and held back a sob. His pulse was weaker than ever. She was skilled only in the healing of natural illness, not magic induced curses like this! "T-Toni… don't die…"

"Maybe I can help?" an unexpected yet totally familiar voice asked from the other side of the road.

Lovina looked at him incredulously for a moment before running to him and flinging her arms around his slim figure. "Fratello!"

Gilbert frowned at the strange man with the auburn hair and goldish eyes. He'd made Aunt Lovi cry!

Heheh... So... I haven't updated this in more than a month... PLEASEDON'TKILLME! *hides behind Lithuania's shield* I have a legitimate reason! SCHOOL. Ugh, I can't wait for summer.

Also, what will happen to Antonio? *smirks*