Do not own Hetalia or the Hetalia Characters. Story's all mine.

Chapter 8

Sie dimwitted bauer – Ger – You dim-witted peasant

Maya Orjena – Head Priest

Bruder – Ger – Brother

Scazmár – Hun – Ass

Grihanā – Gathering Place

Dziaŭčyna – Bel – Girl

Grihanyā – Resting place

"Get down."

All of them looked at Natalya, and got out of the car without a word. Nat drove towards the shed, her brain whizzing with thoughts and theories.

~o~

"What happened, after the divorce?"

Elizabeta, Gilbert and Mathew turned to Alfred, who'd asked the question.

"Did the goatee guy and the old hag get together?"

"They didn't," Mathew said, frowning. "Which is strange, because everything that transpired was for that reason. It is very strange."

While Mathew kept pondering over it, Alfred noticed the conflict on Gilbert and Eliza's faces. He frowned. There was something more to it, which the crazy duo knew, but his own brother didn't. That sparked a question in his mind. "Where were you?"

Matt shook out of his reverie, and turned to Alfred. "Huh?"

"During dad's and old hag Alice's divorce…where were you?"

Matt frowned. "I was with Mr Bonnefoy. Father had asked him to teach me about agriculture and the way of life lead by people in Mr Bonnefoy's country."

"You were there well beyond the divorce," Eliza said, and Matt hummed his agreement. "Almost a year or more, I think."

Matt nodded. "A year and a couple of months," he corrected, and Eliza nodded as well. But Gilbert…

"Stop staring at the awesome me, sie dimwitted bauer. Or am I too awesome for you to stop looking at.

"Brother, you're staring really hard," Matt whispered, and Alfred caught himself.

"Maybe," Nat said as she joined them, "the blinding glare of the lies in your words is making him squint at you."

As Eliza chuckled and Matt stifled his laugh, Nat looked at the glaring Gilbert with a 'What?' expression on her face. She didn't stop by them, but continued to walk, and the others simply followed.

Alfred realised that the temples dedicated to Natalya's religion were nothing like any other places of worship. The actual place of worship was small as compared to the rest of the establishment, which wasn't to say that it was a small shack. The prayer room where the idol was installed was beautiful, with lots of intricate detailing, paintings and writings just like on the back of Alfred's keshi, or the gun having dual forms. From outside, the idol room or prayer room was clearly distinguished from the rest of the buildings by its large, tapering roof, full of sculptures of various deities. The rest of the establishment comprised of a school, a large ground used for martial arts training or for assembling, hostels for stay, a large mess area and kitchen, and small shops which sold items necessary for worship and for the functioning of the infrastructure, all within the common compound wall. Alfred also had heard the mooing of cows and the voices of other cattle, so he assumed that there was a cattle shed, probably for milk and meat, but Alfred was yet to see Natalya eat any meat.

They knocked on the large doors of the temples and Alfred noticed that there were writings and drawings on the huge wooden doors as well. The doors swung open, and a clean shaven boy, dressed in saffron and green stood at the door.

"Tell your maya orjena that Natalya Arlovskaya from the House of Wheel requests shelter for herself and her…companions," Nat said curtly. The boy, visibly intimidated, nodded and fled.

"Will they say no?" Elizabeta asked.

"No," was all Nat offered, and all of them stood in an uneasy silence until a loud shout jolted them right out of it.

"Get out of my temple or I'll shoot you!"

Alfred's hands inched towards his keshi, but Nat's face, visible in the torch light, remained undaunted.

"Bruder! They come from the House of Wheel!" a soft female voice followed the male voice.

From the entrance, they watched as the entire temple started turning on the lights, until the entire area got so bright it might as well have been day.

A short young man with choppy, bob cut length hair appeared, with a scowl darkening his face. With a rifle in his hands and his finger at the trigger, the man looked less and less like a priest and more and more like an angry hitman.

His scowl lightened when he saw Nat. "Oh, it's you, Natalya Arlovskaya." His scowl darkened as soon as his eyes left her face and turned to the others. His rifle came swinging up, and he glared at them down the barrel. "And who are you all?" he growled.

Gilbert felt his albino self grow paler, while Matt felt faint. Alfred and Eliza, on the other hand, had their fingers on the handles of their keshi and frying pan respectively, frowns on their faces, as dark as the one on his face.

"They are my companions," Nat said after letting the tense silence swell. At once, the gun-toting priest's scowl vanished. "Oh, why didn't you say so?" he asked, and swung his gun down.

"Yes, why didn't you?" Gilbert nearly shrieked, while Alfred caught hold of his brother, saying, "Woah, broski, chill out."

Nat made a slight shrugging movement, and walked into the temple. The other four followed behind her – Alfred was helping Matt stay upright, while Eliza was restraining Gilbert to prevent him from doing some kind of damage to Natalya, although, in Eliza's head, she was stopping Gilbert from getting his szamár royally whipped, as Alfred would have put it.

"How surprising to find you here," Nat told the trigger happy priest.

He still had a slight scowl on his face, but his gun was safely slung across his back. "I'm here for inspection. You have met Lili."

Nat bowed to the female lookalike of the scowling priest, who bowed in return. "Nice to see you are doing well, Lili."

The priestess, Lili, smiled. "It's a pleasure to have you here, Natalya."

"That goes without saying," the scowling priest said, "but what about these 'companions' of yours?" he said as his frightening gaze passed over the four of them.

"I shall tell you." Nat's hand dug through her pocket, and she procured a letter. "It's from Katyusha. We'll be staying for the night, at the most for two days."

The man's scowl reduced as he received the letter. "How is she?"

"As usual. She is fine," Nat replied.

Lili turned to the four others, and smiled. "You must be tired. Come with me."

Gratefully, they followed her, while Nat stayed back with the man.

As he studied the contents of the letter, he quietly said, "It isn't like you to be travelling with companions. At most, you used to only travel with him. And after he…" the man looked up. "I'm sorry for bringing up the past, but it surprises me that you're travelling with people. And those two look just like…"

Nat nodded. "Yes, I know. I didn't have a choice, Basch. I've got myself into a bigger mess than I'd anticipated, and I need their help."

Basch Zwingli, Head Priest or Maya Orjena of the House of Snow, pocketed the letter. "Her letter doesn't say much, as usual," he said, and took a good look at her face. "I'll have your room readied. Once you freshen up, meet me in the Grihanā."

Nat nodded. She hadn't expected anything less from—

"And bring your companions with you."

Nat smiled slightly. "Give us half an hour." And she walked towards the hostels. Honestly, the level of paranoia this man underwent when strangers had to stay in his temple…But she didn't blame him. The House of Snow, whose main temple resided in a small mountain village in Hima, had seen enough unrest and trouble, and Zwingli's caution was what had helped him swing the House away from its troubles. What he was doing in a sister establishment so far away from home she didn't know – the House Head Representatives stayed in the main temple and rarely visited the sister or branch establishments, other temples which were affiliated to a House. But whatever was his reason, she had her own reasons that needed her attention.

And she had a feeling that he wouldn't be too happy with her reasons.

"You called that man bruder, ja?" Gilbert asked Lili.

She looked up at him, and smiled. "Yes, he is my bruder, although we are not related by blood."

"Could've fooled me," Alfred said.

Her smile widened as she turned to Alfred. "A lot of people say that."

"What's his name?" Eliza asked.

"Oh, I am sorry. He is Basch Zwingli, and I am Lili Zwingli."

Gilbert stopped muttering, and frowned thoughtfully. "That name sounds familiar."

"He is said to be the youngest person to be appointed as the head priest of a House," Lili said with a quiet pride in her voice.

Gilbert nodded, but the frown on his face clearly showed that Basch Zwingli's age wasn't what he had in mind. He couldn't remember what it was, though.

She stopped before a door. "Here are the rooms. The…Natalya, what are you doing here?"

"I'll take a room with Elizabeta," she said. "These three can take my room."

Lili looked shocked. "Your room? But"—

"I'll talk to Basch. He'll be alright with it."

"T-This is very…sudden," Lili said, and Alfred had a feeling anyone else would giggle nervously to hide their confusion. Lili had a frown on her face, as if there was something she was not able to see, but knew was there within her reach. Alfred understood her plight, not of what was going on, but how she was feeling.

But she seemed to take it in her stride quickly enough. "Alright." She turned to the men. "Please follow me."

Eliza watched as the four of them walked away, and turned around to see that Nat had left the room door open behind her. Eliza followed her into the room. The room was a bit bigger than the one they'd stayed in in the previous temple, but this room, unlike the latter, was made to hold two people. Nat dropped her bag next to one of the beds, and sat down on the bed. In the quiet of the room, Eliza heard her soft sigh.

"This temple is a lot smaller than yours," Eliza said, sitting opposite Natalya on the other bed.

"This isn't the main temple. This is a sister temple to the House of Snow. The actual temple is in Hima."

"The small country in the mountains?"

"Dy. They must be here on inspection, or some occasion."

Eliza just hummed her acknowledgement, and Nat continued to stare at the floor. With a louder sigh, Nat flung herself across the length of the bed, draping her arm over her eyes.

Eliza just let the seconds tick away, and was surprised when Nat started talking.

"I'm not accustomed to travelling with others. It's been a long time since I've had a travelling companion, and even then, it was never such a big…not with so many people."

"You don't have to say anything. You must be very stressed out."

Nat chuckled, and the sound was a harsh one. She was quiet for a while, and then she said, "You deserve your answers. Not just to the questions you came with, but also for what is going on here." With a grunt, Nat swung upright. "I will tell them later, but I shall explain to you first."

"About what, exactly?"

"About this place," Nat clarified. "Basch Zwingli is the Head Priest of this House, just as Katyusha is for the House of Wheel. His younger sister is Lili Zwingli. She is his Deputy, or his right arm. They were made siblings by a simple ritual, but before that, he had rescued her from a sorry fate. Nobody talks about it anymore, but nobody has forgotten how strong that dziaŭčyna is. They, like the House of Wheel, follow a martial arts discipline. Basch carries his gun around for a different reason. He's had to protect this House from various people, and, even now, he doesn't trust people he doesn't know. If you feel like you are being followed, don't think too much about it. He's just looking after what he fought so hard to keep safe."

"That explains…a lot," Eliza said, grateful that the grand picture was finally being unveiled, even if it was in steps. But… "Lili…why was she so surprised when you told her that the men could take your room?"

"I…ah…never mind," Nat said, and got up. She walked towards the door within the room, and when she opened it, Eliza understood it opened to a bathroom. Nat paused at the door, with a tinge of embarrassment on her face, and spoke to Eliza without looking at her face. "There are rooms reserved specifically for the Head Representatives, such as the Head Priests and Priestesses, their Deputies, and their students, who visit the temple. My room is one such room." Before Eliza could process everything, Nat disappeared into the bathroom, and closed the door quickly behind her.

As Eliza processed Nat's words, she realised something.

There was more to Natalya Arlovskaya than anybody knew.

"Oh. My. Freaking. God."

Gilbert was so shocked he couldn't even bring out a squeak like Alfred had managed to; his jaw just dropped. Matt, who was carrying the bags, dropped them.

Lili looked at them, confused. "Why are you being blasphemous?"

"Are you serious?" Alfred freaked.

"How does Natalya get such a room?" Matt said, having regained his speech due to his training as the successor of the most powerful man in the world.

"She is the Deputy of the House of Wheel," Lili said. "Didn't you know that?"

They just continued to stare the room. After having seen the tiny room where one could just make do, the room Lili was standing before them was…too much. To begin with, it was huge. Not only could the three of them fit in easily, another ten to twenty people could join them, and there would be no problem of space. The room was very well lit, making it look even larger than it already was. In the middle of the room, there was a water filled cavity, from which canals radiated like spokes, connected by an outer circular canal, forming a water-filled wheel. A circular disc of flooring projected out of the middle of the huge water cavity.

There were rows of plants everywhere, and huge shelves, lined with voluminous books, took up a large part of the room. At another corner was a large raised circular platform, which consisted of a smaller platform towards the far-off end. Diagonally opposite the big mini-library was a wooden structure, which, from the door, nobody could decipher.

The room itself had walls on three sides. A small portion of the fourth side, towards the library, was walled, and the rest of it opened out to a larger corridor.

Lili led the bewildered trio into the room. Alfred realised that the wooden structure was actually a maze-like privacy partitioning between various beds lined up in that portion of them room. Matt saw that the larger corridor outside the semi-walled side was actually a large square shaped corridor, enclosing a garden in the middle. When Matt suck his head out, he saw that there were similar rooms along the four sides of the corridor, and the garden, open and without a roof, looked beautiful bathed in the moonlight.

"Why does she get such a big room?" Alfred whispered, looking around.

"Ma'am, what did you say Priestess Natalya was, again?" Matt asked, tearing his eyes away from the beautiful, moonlit garden.

"She is a Deputy, same as me. She holds the second rank in the House, second only to the Head."

"So she's a freaking important person? Like a VIP?" Alfred squeaked, unable to handle shock after shock.

Lili, unused to their level of noise and boisterousness, maintained the almost constant frown of bewilderment on her face. "Yes. She is a VIP."

While Alfred continued to freak out, punctuating the otherwise silent room with his 'Omigosh', Gilbert tentatively poked at one of the mattresses. "This is soft."

Before Lili could explain, Matt walked past her towards the beds, and gave her a smile. "Let's take what we can, Gilbert." He flung Gilbert's bag to him. "And thank the good Lord for soft beds."

Gilbert flung himself on the bed, and Matt followed suit, while Alfred jumped on the solid floor between the water filled canals, having found himself a new pastime.

"Please freshen up. Bruder would like to meet you in half an hour." With that, Lili fled.

"Alfred, come and lie down," Matt said. "These beds are soft." He turned from his brother jumping around gleefully to Gilbert, who had dozed off. Matt removed his glasses, feeling quite sleepy himself, but the cute priestess had said something about meeting that gun toting priest…what was his name…ah, Basch Zwingli in half an hour. He had a feeling he wouldn't get up until morning if he slept now.

He turned to his brother, who seemingly hadn't heard him. Alfred seemed like a small child, getting his now bare feet wet in the crystal clear water. He wondered whether all the rooms had similar symbols. With a frown, he got up, and decided to investigate.

"Alfred, are you coming along?"

"Where to, broski?"

"I want to see the other rooms."

"The other—Oh," Alfred said upon sighting the missing fourth wall and the corridor. He quickly forgot about his new pastime, and followed Matt to go exploring.

The rooms were pretty much the same – huge, with a library and that large circular platform and the wooden privacy maze. But the kind of plants in each room, Matt noticed, as well as the symbols formed by the canals on the floor, changed.

The first room they came across had a diamond shaped cavity, and the canals radiating around it formed a snowflake structure.

"This is the room for this place, I guess," Matt figured as he looked around.

"You can tell with the number of guns there," Alfred deadpanned, and spun on his heel. "Let's get going before he comes back and actually shoots us."

Matt wisely followed Alfred, and they proceeded to explore all the rooms.

The décor in the next room was different. Unlike the orange and red décor of their room, this room's décor was brown. The water cavity was circular, enclosed by a larger triangular shaped symbol whose edges were curved.

"House of…what?" Alfred tried to guess.

"Well, this place is brown, so I guess it's related to soil," Matt hazarded.

"House of Earth?" Alfred offered.

Matt shrugged. "We'll ask Priestess Natalya."

"At least she isn't terrified of us as the cute priestess is."

"She is cute," Matt admitted absent-mindedly. "And Priestess Natalya doesn't seem scared of anything."

Alfred remembered her unwavering gaze, her back to him whenever she fought, and nodded. "I'm sure."

They went to the next room. The décor shifted more to reds, but they couldn't make out much, as the rest of the rooms were not lit. The symbols, however, shined due to the moonlight streaming in.

"This looks like a sun," Alfred deduced as they looked at the next symbol. The water cavity was circular, but the canals around it were curved, and two curves met at a pointed end. Matt nodded, agreeing with Alfred. "They look like flames," he said.

"Why is it called a House? Why not temple?"

Matt shrugged. "I have no clue."

The next symbol was easy – it looked like a leaf, with the circular water cavity in the middle connected to the tapered as well as the rounded end of the leaf with two straight canals. Every symbol had a large water cavity, and water cavity had a solid, dry portion in its centre, and Alfred couldn't figure out what it was doing there.

"Why is that bit of floor there?"

"Alfred, I don't know."

"I'm just thinking out loud, broski. Chill."

Matt just rolled his eyes, and they moved to the next room.

The next symbol resembled a bell, complete with a semi-circular canal at the end representing the striking inner shaft. The symbol after that was bizarrely simple – it was just a water cavity.

"There is no suspense in this one," Alfred grumbled.

"Probably the simplest to make. Must have been happy, making this room," Matt said. "The next one is the last. Let's go."

And when they saw the last one, Alfred said, "This one is another sun."

"I think this one is the sun, and that's got to do with flames," Matt mused.

The symbol was formed by a circular water cavity, encircled by a canal close to the cavity, and from the circular canal emerged alternate long and short rays, looking like a drawing of the sun.

"You know, I really wonder how they got all of this in place," Alfred murmured as he squinted at the tiles of the room. "There are drawings on the floor, Mattie."

Matt squatted down next to Alfred, and the two of them analysed the floor. There was writing on the floor, and drawings and various inscriptions.

"How did they get it down to such detail?" Matt whispered, awed. "This looks impossible."

"It's really cool," Alfred said, his voice carrying as much awe as Matt's did.

Matt slowly rose, rue to remove his eyes from the beauty of the flooring. The importance they gave to aesthetics was astounding. As they walked back to their room, Matt's eyes closely followed the markings on the floor. Even the humble floor of the corridor had inscriptions. Why did they give so much importance to inscriptions and aesthetics? He couldn't –

Matt grunted in surprise as Alfred yanked him back by the collar. "Ei, Alf"—

"You said that room was the last one, right?"

Matt extracted his hoodie from Alfred's grip. "Yes. Priestess Natalya said there were eight disciplines, remember?"

"I do. Then what is this?"

Matt looked in the direction of Alfred's gaze, and his mouth fell open in surprise. There was another room, but it was entirely dark, since the moonlight fell from the same side as the room. Matt could make out the structures – the shelves, the platform, the wooden privacy maze. There was a symbol on the floor, but it was too complicated to make out in the dark.

The two of them were about to step in, when a voice asked them, "What are you doing?"

They both jumped, and turned around, suddenly feeling as if they'd been caught with one hand in the cookie jar. Nat stood there, looking at them through narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Looking around, Priestess," Alfred said lazily, and Matt caught the change in his brother's tone. Nat's eyes narrowed even further.

"Priestess Natalya, we didn't think it was off limits," Matt explained.

Nat's expression eased as she turned to Matt. "It's not. But the people who are expected to stay in the room wouldn't appreciate others going into their room.

"It's for each of the disciplines, yes?" Matt asked. Nat tilted her head slightly to the left, as if assessing the two of them. Matt resisted the urge to glance at his brother, but he could feel his brother's stance change from how it was when it was just the two of them, to cut-off. Matt drew himself to full height, and looked Natalya in the eye.

She sighed softly, and approached them. Compared to them, she was short, but she carried herself as someone taller, such was her personality. She stood next to them. "Each discipline is called a House. The bigger temples, as well as the main temples, have a space dedicated to the rooms. This is called the Grihanyā, or the place of stay. This garden is the gathering place, or the Grihan ā. If there is ever a meeting of all the Head Priests or Priestesses, and their Deputies, it takes place here. In the middle of the garden, there is a circle of nine large stones. Each large stone has two smaller stones behind it. The stones are for the Head Priestesses and Priests and for their Deputies.

"Each of these rooms is for the different House Representatives, their Deputies and their students. That room," she said, pointing in the direction of the room with the snowflake symbol, "is for the House of Snow." She pointed in the subsequent rooms. "That is for the House of Stone. That is for the House of Fire, House of Grass, House of Bell, House of Sea, and House of Light."

"What about this one?" Alfred asked, pointing at the door. "Which House is it?"

Nat shook her head. "It doesn't belong to any House." She walked towards their room, and looked skywards. "Basch will be here any moment. Come into your room before he gets here."

The two brothers looked at each other, surprised, but decided to follow Nat into the room.

"Where's Eliza?" Matt asked, and Nat pointed towards the shelves.

"What's this floor in the middle of the water for, priestess?" Alfred asked.

Nat turned. "Meditation. It is complicated to explain, easier to show. I shall show you later. Someone wake him up."

They turned to Gilbert, who'd fallen into deep sleep by then.

"Nat, can we stay here?"

Nat looked startled, and turned to Eliza, who had loaded herself to the chin with books and was carrying it to the bed next to Gilbert's. "If you wish."

Eliza settled the books next to the head of the bed, and turned to Nat. "You do not mind me calling you Nat?"

She shook her head and smiled, and Alfred saw traces of sadness in her face. "I do not mind. It's been a long time; that is all." She walked towards the bookshelves, and disappeared behind one. Matt, curious about the books Eliza had gotten along with her, went and sat down before Eliza.

"Priestess Natalya is a Deputy, Eliza," Matt whispered as he glanced at the book she had with her.

"So that's what she is," Eliza said, looking up at Matt. "She implied she was important…so she's a Deputy."

"This is the room for all the important people of the House Priestess Nat comes from."

"That's why it looks so grand," Eliza said, looking around.

"What's this book about?" Matt asked, and the two of them dived into the contents of the book.

~o~

"Ei, Priestess."

Nat looked up, and saw Alfred standing in front of her. His presence filled up the narrow corridor between the bookshelves, and Nat felt like she'd been backed into a wall, even though he stood at a distance from her, and there was enough space for her to squeeze past him and go out.

"What?"

"What's going on?"

"You are going to have to be more specific, Jones."

"This place. That gun carrying priest. And that room. What's all this?"

"This place is a temple, under the House of Snow. Which means they follow the same discipline as the House of Snow, as well as the same rituals. The gun carrying priest is the Head Priest, Basch Zwingli"—

"I know his name. Why is he carrying a gun?"

"His teacher was a Head Priest before. He was murdered by one of his students, who became the successor Head Priest, and threw the entire House into shambles. All sorts of negative incidents began taking place. Basch uncovered the murder and the murderer, made him stand down and was forced to become the Head Priest. He had to undo all the misdeeds by the previous Head
Priest, and was forced to hunt him down when murders became rampant within the House." She paused, and looked at him straight in the eye. "Did you want to know all that?"

Alfred straightened. "At least you're starting to talk."

Nat narrowed her eyes. "Ask me the right questions, and I'll answer them."

"Why did you kill my father? Or is that a wrong question to ask?"

The answer to Alfred's second question was clear in Nat's expression – she looked like she'd been slapped across the face. Her face lost its shock, and grew dark, and she walked past Alfred. "Move out of my way."

Alfred caught hold of her wrist, and didn't let go when she yanked. Nat spun around and swung her keshi out of the holster, holding it to his chest. "Let go of me."

Alfred didn't look fazed at the presence of the gun. He slowly moved forward, until the barrel was pressing into his chest, his eyes locked with Natalya's the entire time. He placed his other hand on hers, and lowered the keshi, getting no resistance from her the entire time. His hand enveloped hers, cradling it, keeping a firm grip on both her hand and the keshi.

And then he did what she didn't expect at all – he closed the distance between them and lowered his head on her shoulder.

Nat smothered a squeak. First he had to stand so close, with both her hands in his, and now, she could feel his breath on her neck, slow, even and warm.

"I don't really care that you killed the Old man," he murmured, his voice sliding over her skin. Nat bit back a slight shiver. "I'm glad he died before I did in that cage. But he's dead, and I don't give a damn. I'm just tired of not knowing what is going on, Priestess. I don't understand anything. And it hurts. I don't know why, it just does."

Nat unconsciously tilted her head until it nestled next to his, his soft hair pressing against her ear. She understood how he felt, surprisingly. She understood how he felt.

"I'm tired, I'm confused. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Her heart, having had to face so many jolts, jolted another time at his heartfelt whisper. And she felt herself speaking even before she realised it.

"I'll explain it to you, Alfred. I promise."

"Thank you."

And only when he said that did she realise what she had said. She sighed, and gave in to the urge to bury her face in his neck. It was too long since she'd enjoyed the comfort of someone's physical presence close to her, and she'd forgotten how good, how soothing a simple hug could feel.

"Natalya."

Both of them jumped at the sound of Basch Zwingli's voice, and looked at each other, eyes wide with faint confusion. And then, before they knew it, they were both chuckling, foreheads pressed against each other.

"Natalya?"

"I'm here," Nat called out, and took a step away from Alfred. He released her hands, and watched as she turned around and walked out of the maze of bookshelves, her back strong and proud.

He shook his head, and smiled. There was so much to the priestess with incredible blue eyes and silver hair, and he wanted to know everything.

For some reason, that didn't surprise him at all.

The stones they sat on were actually quite comfortable – they had slight depressions in the middle, and they were large enough for them to sit comfortably on. When Matt had heard Natalya's description, he didn't expect it to be so comfortable.

They all sat in a circle – Nat had told Basch to forget formalities and agree to all of them sitting in the places of the Head Representatives. While Basch agreed, his very demeanour made sure that the five of them left a stone to his right and to Lili's left.

Basch slowly processed all that Nat had filled him up on, no expression passing over his face. He finally looked up, and looked Nat in the eye. "All the places you will be visiting…has Katyusha told them about your…situation?"

"She must have sent letters, dy."

"It's not going to be enough, Natalya. For martial disciplines, it's fine – we can handle the demon. What about purely academic disciplines? If something happens to you, how will they handle it?"

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Basch"—

"Let me assume that it's true. How many disciplines will be willing to allow a demon to stay with them?"

Nat quietly gritted her teeth. "He isn't a demon, Basch. He didn't ask to host a demon within him."

"The only reason anyone will believe you is because of your position, Natalya. You better hope that Katyusha hasn't sent those messages"—

"The demon and I will find separate lodgings. The rest of them can stay here under the name of the House of Wheel," Nat said quietly.

"That is your temper talking. Calm down," Basch said, leaning forward, "and listen to me. Go ahead and do what you want. Only inform the House Representatives of what you told me. When you pass any other temple, be careful about what information you give them. Don't tell them that one of you hosts a demon. Just say that there is word of a demon hosting human, and you and your…crew are there to take care of it, and want shelter under the House of Wheel. And while you are at it, get them all the House Robe. It'll save you a lot of questions." Basch sighed. "You need to take care of that temper, Natalya. You are a qualified Deputy, but while none of the Houses can harm you, they won't think twice about making your accomplices pay the price of angering them. Just think about it."

Basch rose, and so did Lili. The rest of them looked at Nat, but she was deep in thought.

"Natalya."

She looked up slowly, her gaze meeting Basch's.

"Stay here for as long as you need. I'll ask one of the kadja to get you four House Coats."

Nat nodded, and rose. The four others rose with her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Good night." She turned around to walk away.

"Natalya?"

She turned back at Basch, who cracked the first smile she'd seen that night, and something she had seen after a long time.

"He would be proud of you."

While the rest of them looked at her, puzzled, she nodded. "I don't doubt it. Good night, Basch."

"Good night, Natalya."

"Hey, Priestess."

Nat turned to Alfred. "Dy?"

"Bathroom."

"Go past the privacy wall. There's a door there."

He nodded, and turned around.

"Thank you."

He looked back at her. "Did you say something?"

The faint blush on her cheeks made him bite back a smile. "You heard. Now go."

"Good night, Priestess."

He watched her walk away, grumbling, and grinned. She could be so cute sometimes.

Alfred found the door right where she said it would be, and finished up his business. As he came out, a large queen sized bed caught his eye.

The bathroom door swung open, and Alfred turned to see Matt coming out. "Ei, broski. Look at that."

Matt, who was wiping his wet hands on his sweats, looked at the queen sized bed. "Oh. It's a big bed." He looked at Alfred, who was grinning suggestively. "Alfred, no. That's not for us."

"Well, whoever it's for is not here. And the Priestess is probably sleeping elsewhere. Come on. It'll be like before."

Matt pursed his lips thoughtfully. As kids, they used to sleep in the same bed. Of course, mama used to sleep with them, too, but after they grew a bit older, mama gave them their own room, and during the thunderstorms, when Alfred would wail at every clap of thunder and streak of lightning, Matt would hug him and they would fall asleep.

He wondered. Would it be like before?

Before he knew it, Alfred had dragged him to the bed, and he'd dived under the covers. "C'mon, broski. It'll be fun."

Matt sighed. Alfred could be so convincing sometimes. He slipped into bed, and drew the covers to his nose, just like Alfred.

Alfred started cackling gleefully.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Nothing," Alfred said, grinning. "It's just like before."

Matt removed Alfred's glasses and his own, and placed it next to his pillow. Alfred was a terrible thrasher during his sleep sometimes, and letting him keep the glasses would be a bad idea. "Go to sleep."

"It is, isn't it?"

Matt couldn't lie. "It's exactly like before."

"Good night, Mattie."

Matt's eyes drooped, too. "Good night, Alfie."

~o~

Nat walked to the bathroom. She had to go to the bathroom before she slept, whether she actually needed to use it or not. Otherwise, she wouldn't get any sleep. As she reached the door, something caught her eye. She turned, and allowed herself a smile.

The two brothers were fast asleep. Surprisingly, neither of them snored. Their limbs were entangled; Matt slept on his back, while Alfred slept on his stomach. Both of them slept peacefully, and Nat could clearly make out the physical resemblances that made them brothers.

You could take a lot away from them, Johnny Doe. But they will always be brothers.

Nat blinked. She didn't know where that thought came from. Shrugging, with a smile on her lips, she went into the bathroom.

The two brothers could be so cute sometimes.

A/T: The brothers are ALWAYS cute! I don't know; I can't really see them being incestuous. I love them as brothers. That's just me, though.

I'm really sorry for the late update! *bows low* I'm really very sorry.

A Big shout out to Pineapple Express (I haven't been able to thank you, since you don't have an account), Black Blood of the Red Rose, APH-Mexico-Don't-Care, The EnglishMuffin, Darth Insidious and Wilhelm Wigworthy! Thank you soo much for the reviews! Reviews make me happy, so please do leave them! Again, thank you all for reviewing, and thank you all for reading!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Love,

R. K. Iris.