A.T.: I like this chapter ;) :P And you'll know why, too. Go ahead and read it.

And I'm really sorry, for two reasons - a. too many swear words in the word-translation section, and b. not sure if all of them are correct/in use slang/appropriately used. Not very sorry about the first reason, but I'm quite sorry about the second one, so yeah.

I don't own Hetalia or its characters, but this story and any character outside Hetalia are mine. So there.

Vyradak - Bel - B*****d

Idyjot - Bel - Idiot

Mudak - Bel - A*****e

Práklon - Bel - Dammit

O boža - Bel - Oh God

Kehenchin - - leader

Chapter 12

Alfred just stood at the door, watching them move. It was fluid, the way they traversed around the hall. But his eyes were fixated on Natalya. He knew it, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it anymore. After Shree and left his mind and gone to take rest, Alfred had laid there, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what Shree had said.

Shree had said everything. From the day she was born till now to what she felt about everyone she knew - she didn't leave anything out. She even told him what she'd felt about him, leaving nothing hidden.

She'd been the first person he'd admitted to about feeling something peculiar towards Natalya. He felt that he could tell her, since she had told him everything. She explained it to him - since she could trust herself, she could trust him as well. Alfred didn't know what that was about, but whatever it was, he trusted her. He always felt he could trust her. Maybe. He didn't remember what he thought before. Whatever.

The point was, he felt something, but he didn't know what it was...or wasn't. He just knew that whenever he went into a room, she was the first person he would search for, without realising it.

It was strange, but when he thought about it, not so much. It had been a very long time since he'd been in close proximity to anyone, let alone an attractive woman around his age. And he wasn't attracted to her body so much as he was to her. She honestly wasn't normal - she had guns strapped to her hips, a holster full of knives strapped all across her torso, and an irritated look on her face, as if everyone in the world were vermin. But if he ever needed her, she would be there.

And he loved irritating her until she stuck a knife in his face. He was crazy to find that cute, since she had the power to drive that slender knife right through someone's skull, but he did.

Right now, he watched Natalya duel with Raj, using only one arm to fight. She was using her legs to attack, and her uninjured arm to defend. She and Raj seemed to be at par, and they traversed the length of the large hall. She kept her injured shoulder away from Raj, and nothing he did got her to lower her defence on her injured area.

Both of them stopped, and stared at each other, chests heaving. Nat moved back, not letting her guard down, but he noticed she was flexing her injured arm slowly.

"That's not fair," Alfred said, walking into the room. The two of them turned to him, and Alfred noticed the faint smile which was on Raj's face vanish once he registered Alfred's presence.

"What is not fair, Jones?" Nat asked between short breaths.

"Having to fight an injured patient like you," he said cheekily, and smiled smugly when Nat's eyes narrowed.

"I can keep up, with or without injuries, Jones," she said, her tone dropping much lower than it already was.

"But still, it's unfair to you, ya know. So what about I team up with you against Mr Raj?"

"N"-

"Yes, why not?" Raj agreed, cutting Nat off, his faint smile reappearing back on his face. "I would like that."

"See?" Alfred told Nat, who began to glare at him. "It'll be fun."

Nat started questioning Raj and he responded back in the same language, one Alfred didn't understand.

"Woah, woah, woah. Foreign language - don't understand - talk normally," Alfred said, and Raj smiled properly at him, probably for the first time.

"Let us talk later. Let us fight now," Raj said. "Would you like a staff?"

He had no idea how to use it. "Nah, I'm cool."

"I shall use a staff, then, if you don't mind."

Woah. This guy was polite. "Nah, it's okay. You go ahead."

Nat smirked, but Alfred had no idea why she was suddenly being so smug.

"Okay, then. Let us begin," Raj said, and got into a stance.

Raj took a step forward, and brought the staff down towards Alfred. Alfred stepped back, and Nat checked Raj's staff before it could reach Alfred. Alfred moved forward, and swung at Raj, but Raj stepped sideways to dodge it, then used his staff to defend himself against Nat's blow. He raised the staff anf helf it with one hand, causing Nat to lose balance of her staff over his, and used his free arm to divert Alfred's next punch. He spun the staff, knocking Nat's off, and drove it at Nat. Nat blocked it, and Raj raised the lower end of the staff to counter Alfred's blow.

And so it went on - Raj taking the offensive with one just to take the defensive with the other. They moved back and forth, until Raj, with a growl, grabbed the middle of his staff with both hands and spun it around, advancing forward, pushing both Alfred and Nat back. Nat narrowed her eyes, and at the right moment, stuck her staff in. With a grunt, she bore the force of her staff in her able hand, while Alfred attacked. But Raj was on the offensive with both of them now - he parried and attacked simultaneously, now making use of his legs to dart in kicks.

Alfred growled, and instead of moving back, he stood ground. He grabbed the staff instead of moving back, and swung the staff up, uprooting an unsuspecting Raj off the ground and into midair. Raj quickly gained control, and using the staff as a balance, sent a kick at Alfred's head. Alfred let go of the staff and stepped back, and Raj used the momentum of the kick to land back on his feet gracefully.

"Wow," Raj said, taking deep breaths, "you are powerful."

"Well, in that case, I think it's unfair on you, for us to fight you two on one," Alfred drawled through deep breaths, and watched Raj's smile grow more visible.

"Alfred, I know what you are trying to do, and it's not going to work," he said. "If one of us doesn't land a blow on the other in this next bout, then I shall team up with Natalya and we shall fight you."

Alfred's grin frew pronounced. "I don't have a problem, either way." He crouched slightly, and waited for Raj to get in his stance. He tuned his senses to Nat, waited for her to take the lead.

She didn't disappoint him. She moved forward, swung her staff down. Raj blocked and shifted his weight to defend himself from Alfred's kick. Raj swung his staff around, swept it at Alfred's ankles, shifting him back. And then he moved in on Nat.

The clash of wood against wood reverberated in the entire room, and there was almost no time between two strikes. Raj with both his hands, Nat with her single arm - both of them were equally matched. Alfred had no time to get in between their duel - they were moving too fast for him to follow.

He knew that Nat was absorbing the shock of the strikes, just as Raj was. But Raj had the liberty to absorb it through his entire system - Nat had to try to restrict it to her working arm. And she was growing tired.

Alfred saw the opening in Nat the same time as Raj. Raj brought his staff down, and Alfred got in between them just before the staff landed.

Crash!

Raj gasped, and Nat's mouth fell open as she watched the smashed pieces of wood fly in different directions. Alfred grinned evilly, and turned around. He kicked the fallen half of Raj's staff into his hand, and juggled it in one hand. "This staff isn't as strong as I thought it was."

"T-The s-staff...broke..." Nat whispered, dumbstruck, completely forgetting about the duel and her aching uninjured arm. She swore loudly in her native language, and Alfred turned to her. "Now, now, priestess, it doesn't become of you to swear like a sailor."

"How did it break?" Raj asked, his face's expression changing from confused to curious. "Even if I were to hit it against a brick wall a hundred times, it wouldn't crack."

"I'm strong," Alfred said nonchalantly, as if it didn't really matter, and Nat snorted her disagreement. He turned to her, grabbed her staff and yanked her to him. "I'm very strong," he murmured, eyes locked in hers.

"Let go of my staff, vyradak, or I will have to show you you are not all that strong," Nat growled, and with a cheeky grin, Alfred let go of her staff.

Nat was mentally shaken. He had enough power to physically lift Raj off the ground, and pull her out of her stance. And the staff...it broke like a twig.

If nothing else, he could take a house down with brute strength.

"Hello. What's going on?"

They turned to the door, and saw Matt standing there

"Hey, broski," Alfred greeted Matt, who was removing his shoes. Matt smiled at Alfred, and walked towards the three of them.

"Mathew," Raj asked, "what is the biggest thing Alfred could destroy?"

Matt blinked in surprise and turned to Alfred, who said, "They're talking of my strength, broski."

"Oh. Oh. Okay," Matt said. "He could take down anything under a hundred-so tons. Easily. I guess he'd have a problem lifting anything about two hundred tons, I think."

"Nah. I could take two hundred," Alfred said nonchalantly.

Matt snorted. "No, you couldn't."

"Yes, I could."

"No, you couldn't."

"I can take you on."

"That doesn't make sense."

"You pack around two hundred tons of force. Used to."

"Alfred, don't provoke me."

"Well, how should I know if you still pack that much power?"

"That is true," Matt admitted, "but that isn't the point. The point is" -

"That I can take you on and you're a chicken if you don't accept." Looking at Matt's face, Alfred protested, "Matt, c'mon! It's been so long!"

"I haven't had practice."

"Neither have I," Alfred said, to which Matt quickly retorted, "Liar."

"Mattie, come on!"

"Okay, okay," Matt said, and loosened his shift at the neck. "I hope I don't die."

Alfred grinned evilly at that, and Matt signed resignedly.

Raj and Nat had stepped back, and watched as Alfred and Matt both crouched, Matt with a look of pure regret, and Alfred with the face of a predator.

Alfred charged at Matt, and Matt instantly went flying on contact.

Raj and Nat cringed together. Alfred had put his full force behind that charge, and Matt had flown like a leaf in a gale.

"You aren't trying!" Alfred yelled angrily at Matt, who was getting up.

Matt picked up his glasses, and put them on. "I was so scared...I thought my glasses were going to break." He looked at Alfred's scowl, and grinned. "You've grown a lot stronger. And, now, I know just how much stronger you've grown to be."

Alfred blinked, and smiled as understanding dawned slowly. "You took me on a test drive."

Matt smiled. "So to speak."

"Well, broski,"he said as they both got ready, "how about taking a real drive now?"

"Your companions are...very strong," Raj said.

Nat snorted softly. "They're monsters. Both of them."

"I didn't think both of them possessed such brute strength," Raj said. "And he wasn't using the demon within him, either."

That was nagging Nat, actually, and she knew that was the reason Raj brought it up. As they walked to the mess for dinner, Nat thought about how it was possible for Alfred or Matt to survive even a bulletshot, and thought about her first encounter with Alfred Jones Sr. Maybe his surviving her bullets and still being able to move has less to do with the demon and more to do with the brute strength he had passed down to his sons.

She thought about Alfred and Matt's duel. The room had shook every time they clashed, shoulder to shoulder or arm to arm. Their blows were fast and powerful, their blocks strong and efficient. Somewhere in the middle, both their knee length shifts tore, and both of them completely tore them off themselves.

Even as she thought about it now, she gasped softly, which was better than how her jaw had dropped and her breath had stopped when she'd seen Matt's bare torso and Alfred in a vest and loose pants. Both of them were lean and muscular, Matt being more buff between the two. Watching the two of them fight was like watching two elephant bulls fight, both of different personalities, but matched strength.

"What has you attention so completely riveted?"

Nat shook her head, and looked at Raj. He was a really serious and very quiet person, but he was an absolute gentleman, and a lot of fun to be with. He had been with her during her days in the Academy, as had Shree, and he was one of the few people who had not been scared of her from the start. He didn't talk anywhere close to as much as Shree did, but he said whatever was pertinent or necessary, and he always performed his duties to the utmost perfection.

Between the three of them, he was always the overstable one, stuck between a hyper sister and a permanently irritated best friend. She would never tell him, but he was one of the very, very few people she trusted her life with. But, she had a feeling he knew.

"I was thinking of Johnny Doe, and wondered whether he was as strong as his sons."

"He lived for so long with a demon in him. I say he passed down half his strength."

"And these two aren't his only sons," Nat said thoughtfully.

"Actually...that may not be true," Raj said.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would have children with anyone he met and leave them to be."

"He bound his demon to his son," Nat deadpanned, and Raj shrugged.

"I just think it's only Matt and Alfred. Om would have mentioned something if there were any others.

"How would their presence matter, once we know that Alfred carries the demon?"

"The same way Mathew's does. Natalya, if this has to end quickly, you need to tall to your companions."

"I don't talk, Raj. I only spoke to you after knowing you for a year."

"Well, make an effort. If you really must end what that man has started, then you must talk to those who have been affected by him. Each person who you travel with will have something to tell you. You must ask them."

Nat kept quiet, and they almost reached the entrance of the mess.

"Did Om put you on my case?" she muttered.

Raj chucked. "You sound like a child, Nat. It is only what I have observed, and I feel I must tell you." He sighed. "It's okay. It'll happen slowly. I hope."

Nat grimaced, and Raj chuckled. "Let's go eat, my dear," he said, and allowed her to lead the way.

"Hey, Shree. Can I ask you something?"

Shree looked at Alfred, who had appeared out of nowhere. "You can, Alfred. What is troubling you?"

"I'm just curious. How long have you known the priestess?"

Shree could feign innocence as to not knowing who the 'priestess' was, but she knew. "I've know her nearly ten years now. I mean, we've been friends for that long. I knew her before, too."

"How didja guys meet?"

"Ten years ago? We were roommates, at the Academy."

"So...she's known your brother for that long?"

Ohh. She kind of saw where this was going. "A little less longer than she has known me."

"So, for almost 10 years, then?"

"Alfred..."

"Does he like her?' he asked quickly.

"Why? What makes you think that?"

"They smile at each other. And both of them never smile."

Shree frowned, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to burst out laughing. "They both smile at me, too."

"Shree..." Alfred trailed off, irritated. "She was your roommate and he's your brother. They have to smile at you."

"You think they like each other?" Shree asked.

"Yeah. They've known each other for that long."

"Well, you're not wrong..." Shree said, failing to bite down her smile or keep out the tease from her voice.

"Shree!"

"I'm sorry, Alfred," she laughed, and Alfred begun to realise that Shree was a lot prettier than he originally thought she was. "They do like each other, but not the way you think. They're both very serious people with a very strange sense of humour. They're very alike, is what I'm trying to say. They don't like each other in that way. Besides, my brother's married."

"Married?" Alfred squeaked.

"Yeah. He has a daughter, too. And his wife fell in love with him and stayed that way for five years before she agreed to marry him."

"Oh. Ohh. That's nice."

Shree laughed. "So, no. No one is going to take your Nat from you. Were you jealous?"

"N-No!" Alfred stammered, and laughed a loud, fake laugh. "Why would I, the hero, be jealous?"

Shree shrugged, and patted his arm. "She doesn't get subtle hints. You don't look like someone who uses subtlety, but she's got a thick skin in areas like this. So, you know, be loud."

"What do you think I've got in mind?"

"I don't know, really. But I've got to go to the library now, so, see you." She walked past him, and he watched her go down the corridor and disappear.

Alfred looked down at his hands. His wrists, like the rest of his body, were still marked with the chains that figuratively bound him to his past.

Back then, he was alone. As alone as he could get, because he trusted no one, including himself. And now, he was lost - he had no idea what the next moment would bring, or what the consequences of his actions would be.

But, he decided, it was better to be lost than to be alone.

"Why are you still in bed?"

"Go away, priestess. I'm napping."

Nat frowned. It wasn't like Alfred to stay in bed well past morning - he was the kind who woke with the sunrise, and now, he was just lying on his stomach, his blanket covering him cozily, even though it was afternoon. "It's post lunch. You missed lunch."

"I had lunch, and now I'm napping. Didn't you see me in the mess?" he muttered, and turned around. "Aw. Did you miss me?"

She snarled at him. With a smile, he threw his arm over his eyes. "I may wake up in the evening. I'll come then."

Nat growled to herself, and grabbed his blanket with the intention of yanking it off him. But before she could get his blanket past his chest, he caught hold of her wrist and pulled her towards the bed. A few squeaks and a lot of struggle later, he had managed to pin her on top of him, his arms around her back and waist, and his legs over hers. She tried to get off him, but he was too damn strong - his arms were like iron vices, and his legs like steel traps. Idyjot.

"Let go of me, mudak," Nat growled at him. This close up, she could see the dark blue shards in his eyes.

"What did you want, priestess? I know it wasn't because you missed me," Alfred murmured slowly. If he just reached up, his nose would touch hers.

She had never noticed the freckles on his nose before. They were light, but they were very much there. She shook herself mentally. "I wanted to know if your head would break if I threw a marble slate at it."

"...my head would...break...you wanted to know how strong I am," Alfred said softly. "Well, now you know, don't you?"

Nat growled at him. "Let me go, práklon!"

"I would, but then I would have to come with you - no, no, no, before that," he whispered, "Before that, you would finish pulling my comfortable blankie off me. And I don't have a problem, but, but," he emphasized, "you would have a problem. You see, I've got nothing on."

Nat frowned. Nothing...on...nothing...Oh. Oh. And that was when she suddenly grew aware of his body under hers, which were separated by her layers of clothes and his blanket .

Her hand was over his chest, and it wasn't separated by any blanket or any cloth. His hair was beneath her hand, springy and curly, and as her awareness grew, so did the strange heat in the lower part of her stomach.

His body was hard underneath her. His legs were pinned on top of hers, and those were like cords of steel. His arm around her, and the other one gripping her wrist were like chains.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable with something bony pressing into her stomach, she shifted slightly, and felt exactly how hard he could get. Blushing hotly, she looked at his face. He grinned lazily, but his eyes were burning with an intensity she had never seen in her life, on him, on anyone.

"Get a little more comfortable, priestess. Or do you mind if I do?" he drawled. When she remained mute, he asked, "Well, do you?"

"D-Do I wh-what?" she said, her mouth completely dry.

"Oh, you're so cute," he whispered, and she felt as if he was in pain. "I asked you if you mind, if I got comfortable."

"N-No, but" -

He shifted, and she felt him slide between her legs, hard and rigid. Heat stormed through her, and somehow raged harder when she watched him draw his eyes half-close and moan softly. Her lower regions thrummed incessantly, intensely, and it was as if her body was conspiring against her and knew what was exactly going on, when she didn't.

"A-Alfred" -

"Shh. Shh," Alfred said, raising his hand to put it on her lips. "If you say my name again, like that, we're going to have a problem."

"P-Problem" -

"Shh, Natalya. You must keep quiet," Alfred whispered and opened his eyes. He lifted his hand, and brushed her hair away from her face. Instead of tucking it behind her ear, he ran his fingers through her hair, curling it between his fingers. "You have such pretty hair, Natalya. I really like your hair," he whispered, and looked straight into her eyes. "I really like you, too."

Nat blushed hotly, and closed her eyes tightly. She opened her eyes, and looked at Alfred. "Alfred, let me go."

"Oh, I wish I could, priestess," he said, and closed his eyes. "I wish I could." He opened his eyes, and looked at her. "Am I scaring you?"

Nat didn't know what to do. She wanted to shake her head, but...she wasn't scared of him.

"What...if I...say yes?"

"Then I'll let you go right now."

"And...if I say no."

"Then I'll kiss you."

"...what."

"I'll kiss you, Natalya. I want to." He slowly brushed his thumb over her lips, parting them just slightly. "Right here."

She didn't know what was going on. She had no clue - she had never felt this way before. But...o boža...

She wanted to kiss him, too.

"Is it against your practice? To be...related to a man, in this way?" Alfred whispered.

The haze Alfred had trapped her, along with himself, clung onto her senses. She shook her head, but it was futile. "Nie...I don't understand."

"If I were to kiss you, would you have committed a sin?"

"Nie, nie. You...I've never done this before."

"It's not hard, Natalya," Alfred chuckled softly. "It's the easiest thing in the world."

"...show me."

Alfred grinned an easy grin, his eyes half closed. He cupped her face and drew her down, to show her exactly how easy it was.

"He has returned."

Their combined roars was enough to throw the roof right off the walls. Azor rose from his seat, and moved forward, his happiness and excitement clear on his terrifying face.

But the happiness on his face fell inch by inch, as did the magnitude of the roar, as he watched his brother walk towards him. By the time he reached his brother, there were none of the previous emotions on his face, and the hall was filled with pin drop silence.

Azor caught his brother as he fell, his eyes unable to move away from the peculiar hole in his chest. It wasn't a bodily wound - it was a hole which went right through his body. He was able to see the floor on the other side, but at the same time, it resembled a pitch black abyss. It looked fragmented at the edges, like a hole in parchment. But its very presence terrified Azor.

"What is this?" he whispered.

"He's trapped, Kehenchin," Durzen, his comrade, murmured softly. "A part of him is still in the place he was summoned to."

"Will he...will he d-d-d" -

"He won't, Kehenchin," Durzen said, using the term for leader. "But we must act fast."

Durzen turned to the rest of the crowd. "I must know where he was summoned to, as well as to whom he was summoned to. Get the gehegin ready, and the warriors as well. Wherever we have to go, we shall."

"He had got to Terrida," one demon spoke up. "And his summoner was...Alfred Jones."

Durzen, true to his role, took his position as his leader's right arm, and took charge. "Inform the gehegin to get ready. I want to know everything about this Alfred Jones. Get the warriors. We are going to Terrida."

Durzen kneeled next to Azor, and told him, "We shall go to Terrida, and hunt this Alfred Jones down."

"I'm coming, too" -

"No, Kehenchin. We shall go first. You shall take care of your brother."

"You will go."

"Yes, Kehenchin."

"Durzen. I have one order."

Durzen had never heard Azor call him by his name. "Yes, Kehenchin."

"Destroy Alfred Jones."

A.T.: And another chapter!

A couple of things first.

Firstly, my mum isn't willing to give me a datacard, so I won't be uploading chapters next week when I go to Manipal, because...no internet. Once I go back to college from the 8th (gulp) I'll upload.

I don't not want to go to college, but I'm still yet to get used to hostel and college life.

Speaking of which, 8th onwards I'll be in the second semester. I really want to upload twice a week, or at the least once a week, in the upcoming future. I want to do it particularly on a set day each week, and try to keep uploading as consistently as possible. I can only decide on the day once I check out my timetable, which I'll only be getting on 8th, so, until then, I can't tell you which day(s) I'll be uploading a new chapter. But I'm aiming for two days in a week, and I'll let you know beforehand when exams are coming around and whether I'll upload then or not. All I can say now is that I really want to be consistent in putting out new chapters on a weekly basis, and I will try to do that the best I can. I don't get wifi all throughout my hostel, except in this one tiny room, which is why I can't make it to more than two times a week. And I haven't really done all my best in the first sem - that isn't to say I've done badly; I've maintained an average of 23/30 overall in the four courses whose marks I do know - but I can do better, so I'm going to give my studies a preference, too.

The thing was, I got involved in all these extracurriculars during first sem, and it doesn't seemed to have gelled really well with any of my course teachers. I'll have to attend every class of every one of the seven courses I have this sem, so...yeah.

That's about it, I think.

I just recently read 'The Woman in White' by Wilkie Collins, and lemme tell you - It. Is. Awesome. Anyone who loves classics or who loves mystery or suspense or just a goddamn good book, go check it out. It will not be a waste of your time.

And yesterday, I finished watching Cowboy Bebop. I'm still heartbroken about the ending T.T

T.T

Still heartbroken.

Well, that's a very long A.T. I'll leave it at this, then.

I hope you liked it very much.

Love,

R. K. Iris.