A.T.: A big shout out to Pinkdoughnuts and Skye for reviewing the previous chapter! Thank you so much for reviewing! Reviews make me really, really happy!
Another thing I'd like to let you know before you start reading. Natalya isn't naturally very fluent in English. During her time in the Academy, when she was with Shree and Raj, they taught each other their native languages, and a combination of both turned into a common language for them. So whenever it's just two out of the three of them, or all three of them alone, they talk in that common language. In my head, it's a combination of Belarusian, Russian (pretty close) and Hindi. So...I can't exactly get to writing down their sentences in their language, because the translation segment would begin to resemble a chapter instead. I hope you understand, so, from now on, if any of the three are talking to each other when other people aren't in the vicinity, they're talking in their common language. You can take that for granted.
I don't own Hetalia. Glad we got that out of the way.
Duruni - the term used to address Om
Weiser mann - Ger - Wise man
Idyjot - Bel - Idiot
Práklon - Bel - Dammit, Goddamit
Mudak - Bel - Asshole
Bliadz - Bel - Bitch, Whore (choose your context)
Diajin - Holy staff
Chapter 13
"Goodbye, Duruni."
Om smiled at Natalya. "Goodbye is...a rather strong term, Natalya. We shall meet again, in the future, and in happier times."
Nat smiled back at him. "I believe you, Duruni." She bowed, touched his feet, and moved away to allow Om to say goodbye to the rest of them. She walked to Raj, who was talking to Shree about something. As soon as they sighted her, they moved away to make space for her.
"See you, Raj," Nat said in their common language. "I'll be taking Shree with me for a while."
"Don't get into too much trouble, like you did before," Raj said, and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Although, that was partly because I was there to pull you two out of it."
Nat grinned in the memories of their shenanigans, and Shree laughed. "Ah, don't worry about that. We're mature adults now."
Nat snorted. "I wish. But it's a good thing you're not coming along. Your hair would grow more gray than it had back then. And I wouldn't want your wife coming behind my life asking me why I turned her husband into an old man, now, would I?" Nat teased.
Om watched his siblings and Natalya laugh about something, and turned to the rest of the group, who he had just finished bidding goodbye to. "I hope you have as safe a journey as possible," Om said. "Mr Beilschmidt, I hope those books serve you well."
Gilbert heaved the heavy volumes in his arms a little higher. "I'll make good use of them, weiser mann. I am awesome, but I have a lot to learn."
Om chuckled. "So do we all. Miss Hedervary...please look after everyone."
Elizabeta bowed to Om, and smiled in response. "Please take care of yourself, Duruni."
"I will, I will. Ah, boys," he said, seeing Alfred and Matt approach them. "I was wondering where you two were."
"We were loading the car," Matt said, while Alfred just raised an eyebrow at Om. "Wondering? Since when have you wondered, old man? You know everything."
"It is the foolish who declare they know everything, Alfred," Om said. "And I'm not all that old - why, I'm just five years elder to my younger siblings standing there."
Alfred opened his mouth in shock. "Woah. Really?" he said, astonished. He rubbed the back of his head. "I dunno...must be because you've shaved your head."
"Natalya, do I seem like an old man to you?" Om asked as Nat and his siblings approached them.
Nat shook her head. "You're not even married yet."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Raj said. "Married people are old?"
"Or old people are married?" Shree added. "Either way, you're both," she said cheekily, and went and hid on the other side of Nat before Raj could respond.
"Both of you are crazy," Raj muttered after glaring at his sister and his silently laughing best friend, and turned to Alfred and Matt. "Take care with these two. They might seem sober apart, but they get into a lot of trouble when they're together."
Nat just rolled her eyes, and Shree went forward and touched Om's feet. "I'll be back soon, Duruni."
"Be safe, Shree," Om said, his smile fading away as he looked at his younger sister.
"I have Nat, so...no problem," Shree said, grinning to Nat, who grinned back. "We won't die, don't worry. Let's go." Nat turned around, and began walking to the car.
They all piled in - Gilbert and Eliza were already there, reading some books. Nat got in, and waited for the other three to figure out how they'd sit around.
Finally, the shotgun seat door opened, and Alfred got in, followed by Shree. Matt opened the door behind, and sat down.
"Where to?" Nat asked.
"The southern coast. Can you drive?" Shree asked.
"I would not be sitting behind the wheel if I couldn't. Lead me there."
Shree grinned, reminded of an inside joke from the past. "With pleasure, Nattie. With pleasure."
With a roar, the engine came to life, and they drove away.
"Hey, priestess. Where do you want all this stuff?" Alfred asked.
"Keep it there," Nat said, pointing to where Shree was drawing inscriptions on the ground. It felt good to be on the road again - as much as she cared for Om and Raj, and enjoyed their company, she preferred to be on her own. Although...this wasn't actually 'on her own', as she observed all those around her.
They'd reached the coast after an hour and half, and Gilbert, Eliza and Matt had taken it on themselves to go play in the water. Shree was making arrangements to install the idols, as per Om's directions. Alfred wanted to go play in the water, too, but Nat roped him in to carry some of the boxes that had all the things Nat required for rituals.
"Anything else, priestess?" Alfred asked, walking from Shree to her.
Nat inspected the boxes from where she was, and nodded. "That's about it."
"Well, I'm off to the water, then," Alfred said, ruffling the back of his head, looking at where Matt, Eliza and Gilbert were at.
Matt somehow had gotten his hands on a pair of swimming trunks, as had Gilbert, and Eliza had a cute looking one piece on herself. They were playing like kids - splashing water on each other, pulling each other down into the water. Gilbert,as they watched, picked Eliza up, heaved her on his shoulder, and walked deeper into the water, ignoring all of her protests. He then threw Eliza into the water, but she grabbed his arms before she fell, dragging him in with her. Matt laughed until tears came to his eyes, and walked towards where they'd fallen, only to have them grab his feet from underwater and pull him down as well.
Alfred shook his head. "Kids."
Nat snorted, but she couldn't help but smile. "You're one to talk."
"Hey, I never said I wasn't a kid myself," Alfred said. "Been a long while since I've seen the beach."
Nat heard the wistfulness in his tone, and turned from the water to him. He looked so...sad. She'd never seen him look sad - happy sometimes, annoyingly so, and sometimes angry, but...never sad. And for some reason, something inside her cringed and popped at the same time, in the most unusual way, and she found it...strange, because she'd never felt that way.
Alfred continued to stare into the sea, looking beyond the noisy trio and at the horizon, and suddenly turned to her, the full range of his emotions revealed in his eyes. The emotions grew subdued, and he just smiled at her. Strangely shaken, she looked away towards the sea.
"How did they get the swimming clothes?" Nat asked out loud.
"That would be my work," Shree said, and they turned to look at her. "I saw the route Om had planned out for us, and figured since we'd be at the beach at some point or another, figured that it'd be best for all of us to have swimming suits. There's one for you two, too - it's there along with Matt's clothes. I asked him to lay it out in the back seats, so you guys can change in the car and go into the water."
"Does mine have 'I'm the hero!' written on it?" Alfred asked.
Shree laughed. "No, Alfred, it doesn't. But I'm sure you could find one like that in any town we might go next to."
"Well, yeah, that's true - thanks anyways, Shree. You're a doll," Alfred said, and turned to Nat. "So, priestess, you're going to join us, right?"
"I have work, Jones," Nat said, scowling at him.
"We won't take long, Alfred," Shree said, and Nat's scowl grew darker as she aimed it at Shree.
"Alright! See you both, then," Alfred said, and turned to Nat. "Make sure to wear your swimming suit, priestess. I'm sure you'll look gorgeous in it," he drawled, and winked at her before sauntering off to the car.
...what was that word? The one Shree had used once? Ah, yes. Horny. He had three moods - annoyingly happy, occasionally angry, and horny. Very horny.
Nat shook her head, and walked back to Shree, who had most of the arrangements done. Nat began taking things out of the boxes and arranging for the ritual that was to follow, and pointedly ignored Shree's curious gaze.
The intensity of her gaze grew to a point where Nat could no longer ignore it. "What?" she snapped.
"What's going on?" Shree singsonged.
"Where?"
"Oh, you know where. Don't act innocent."
"Spell it out," Nat said between gritted teeth.
"What's with Alfred and you?"
Nat just kept quiet, not meeting Shree's gaze on purpose.
"How far did he go? Did he" -
"Shree, you idyjot!" Nat whispered vehemently, and looked up. As soon as Shree's gaze connected with hers, she realised what a big, stupid mistake that was.
"Oho. Oho. I see," Shree said, smirking.
"You see nothing."
"I'm sure."
Práklon, but Shree was getting on her nerves. The two of them worked in silence, Nat gritting her teeth to keep herself from grumbling, Shree smirking away, trying not to laugh.
"What did he do?"
"Shree!"
-o-
Alfred pulled his swimming trunks on, and looked at himself with a critical eye. He had told Shree somewhat about his condition, and as much as he didn't want to hide the marks on his body, he knew the sight of his bare skin was...jarring, to say the least. He was used to it - hell, if he could get used to the things which caused these marks, he was more than used to the marks themselves. But he didn't know how the others would take it...two people in particular.
He fingered the seam of his vest uneasily. His vest hid the worst marks, possibly, on his body. And he never parted with it, unless it was too hot to actually wear it. If he wore it and went into the water, he would have to remove it at some point when he had to change, and...well, shit on slushy sand. Either way, he would have to remove it - or he could just not go into the water. But that wasn't going to happen.
He heard footsteps, and sighed. Fuck it. He was acting like a woman. He decided to leave it on, and take it off if he was comfortable with it. He jumped out of the vehicle, ready with his latest quip for his favourite priestess. "Aww, decided to go into the water" -
A hand gripped his face, and before he could register the crushing strength behind the grip, he was zooming through the air, the wind cutting into his skin, and by the time he opened his eyes, he had hit a ton of bricks, and was surrounded by water on all four sides.
'The fuck?'
Watch out, human!
The same crushing grip caught hold of the top of his head, and moved him through the water at the same speed as he'd been moving in through the air. Speaking of which -
'I'm choking!' Alfred consciously thought as he felt his lungs squeezing the last dredges of air left in him, and began demanding more.
Grab that hand.
'What?'
The hand on your head - grab it!
Alfred moved both his arms through the water, and grabbed the hand gripping into his skull. And suddenly, the demon took over.
-o-
The amulet on Nat's arm tightened just as the screams from the trio reached her ear. Nat looked up, and saw them pointing at an object speeding away and saying...saying...
They were saying Alfred.
"Shree" -
"I'll install the idol. Go!"
Nat stumbled to her feet and ran towards the car, where she'd seen Alfred last. She threw the door open, and her heart stopped.
He wasn't there.
With a growl, she tore her shirt off her, revealing the swimsuit she wore underneath. Throwing her shirt on the seat, she clambered half in and pressed a button on the inner roof of the car.
A panel lowered itself, and turned towards her, revealing weapons all placed and protected in their casings. Nat pulled out her keshi from the holsters around her hips - in water, they would be useless - and pulled off an underwater assault rifle from the panel, one of the many weapons she'd modified to accommodate the holy bullets she'd hand crafted.
This would do just fine.
Nat unbelted the keshi holster from around her hip and looped a belt with a carriage pouch at the back, specifically made for the rifle, all in a fluid motion. She pushed the button for the panel to go back in place, and undid her pants, revealing the rest of her swimsuit, which covered her till her thighs. She ran towards the water, and stopped when the amulet tightened even further. But the pain of the near loss of blood flow into her arm was ignored at the sight in front of her.
Alfred was running on water.
And there was someone chasing him.
At the sight of that someone, Nat's hand automatically went to the keshi strapped to her thigh, and she drew it out. With a steady arm, she took aim, chanted the incantations, and fired.
An unholy scream tore at the skies, and Nat took another shot. Another scream followed the first one, and Nat shot the third time. The scream turned into a roar, but Nat didn't care - by then, Alfred was next to her.
Or, to be politically correct, it was the demon.
"What the hell is going on?" Nat growled.
"Are you talking to me, priestess?"
"Who else would I be talking to, mudak?" Nat snapped angrily.
"Your friend thought it was you, and left the metal box to greet you. He was thrown with a great force. He moved through the air, and hit the water. Before he could comprehend, the assailant grabbed his head and dragged him through the water."
"That's when you stepped in," Nat said.
"Yes."
"Do you know who that is?" Nat asked. But she didn't need him to answer - by then, she could clearly see the assailant the demon spoke about.
A woman walked before them, with large eyes, a small nose, and a pert mouth. She had a small, heart shaped face, with long, blond hair tied up in a loose braid falling over one shoulder. She was a little shorter than Nat's height, and she wore similar clothes to what Shree wore - a long shift and loose slacks - but they were in pastel colours, with floral designs on them.
She was gorgeous to look at. She was also a demon.
Nat instantly picked out the signs - inhumanely red irises, arms longer than a normal human's, and the edges...she seemed to blend right in with her surroundings at one point, and be starkly different from it at the next. It was like a picture drawn with no borders on a canvas. She wasn't transparent, but she seemed like a hallucination, a vision.
And the sight of a demon in front of her hurt her eyes, both literally and figuratively.
"What do you want, demon?" Nat called out, her keshi trained on the seemingly female demon.
The demon turned to her. "Are they your bullets? Are you a priestess?"
"Yes, and yes. I don't care who you are. Tell me what you want," Nat called out. She could clearly see the points where her bullets had hit - and all three had hit. But the demon wasn't bleeding in those points - instead, she had been burnt.
Just as she should be.
"I want the one they call Alfred Jones."
"Yeah? Well, I don't know what you are talking" -
"Priestess! Alfred!" Matt called out as the three of them came on shore.
Nat cringed and closed her eyes. "Práklon, Matt," she whispered through her teeth, and opened her eyes. The demon before her was grinning at her, and Nat's irritation scale hit the roof.
"You were saying, priestess?"
This bliadz just got more annoying than ever. "You'll have to get through me before you get him," Nat growled.
The demon's grin turned from condescending to a maniac given the object of her psychotic desires. "With pleasure."
The demon moved almost immediately, even before the words had time to reach Nat's ears. Her eyes couldn't pick out the demon's movements, but she knew better than to be within the demon's reach. She jumped back, and took aim at a seemingly random direction, but the shot she fired got its target.
"You bitch!" the demon screamed, and her bubbling fury made her slow enough to be visible to Nat. In a test of physical strength Nat wouldn't get around, especially with her doubts about her previously injured arm, but Nat had much more than physical strength by her side.
Natalya had God on her side.
Chanting mantras the entire time under her breath, Nat ran backwards and slid sidewards just before the demon could reach her. Nat could not let the demon so much as touch her - then it was game over, as Alfred liked to put it. She had to use incantations, bullets and her knives to slow the demon down, keep as much distance as possible between the two of them.
She shot, and dodged the pouncing demon, just to get some distance between them. As Nat moved, a loose plan formulated in her head.
"Why do you keep running away? Are you scared, you bitch?"
'Oh, fuck you, bliadz.'
Nat watched the demon pounce on her once more, and slid - but this time, she slid downwards instead of sidewards. As the demon watched in shock, Nat slid on the sand, and threw five knives at the demon's body successively, with perfect timing, within seconds of each other.
The demon flew over her, and Nat jumped onto her feet, moving backwards. The demon got up from her crouched position, and turned around to face Nat with the same condescending grin. "Nicely done, priestess, but poor choice, I must say. I actually thought you would use that monster weapon of yours, but, instead, all I get are these toothpicks in my body which hurt as much as a mosquito bite." Nat watched as her knives got swallowed into the demon's body, disappearing like twigs in quicksand. "Now, I'll rip your face into two...or maybe just your limbs. Then you can watch me rip that Alfred you seem to want to protect so badly, and" -
The clink of metal hitting metal stopped the demon midsentence, and the distinct sound of temple brass made her features freeze in fear. She felt something press into her back, and slowly, fearfully, looked over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Shree said, using a brand of acidic sweetness in her voice, "but I am the only one who gets to call that woman a bitch."
"Hey!" Nat exclaimed in protest, but Shree ignored her.
"What you just called toothpicks, my dear demon," Shree continued in the same tone of voice, "are actually stakes with inscriptions along the entire length of the blade and handle. And, that woman you shouldn't be calling bitch managed to land them at the exact centres of your Chi Chakras all along your body. So, should my daijin - that's my holy staff, by the way - touch your back again, you're going to implode into a million pieces, and cease to exist on any plane, in any Realm. So, I suggest you start talking, or I'll watch you explode in front of me like a bloody firework. And no, I don't get disgusted by the idea of blood on my body - I relish it."
Nat watch the demon before her shake in fear, and shook her head. Put Shree in a battlefield, and she transformed from a hyper, sweet girl to a predator who enjoyed killing in the name of peace and prosperity and whatever the hell got her to the battlefield in the first place.
Where Nat's strength lied in her physical capabilities, Shree's lied in her spiritual. Shree's spiritual power was second only to some of the more experienced House Heads, third only to Raj's, and fourth only to Om's.
"K-kill Alfred Jones. Th-that's what t-they s-s-said."
"Is that so?" Shree asked with friendliness so fake that it made Nat's teeth ache. "Did they say why?"
"I...I...I..."
"You can't tell? Can you tell me where are you from?"
"Roomie" -
"Where are you from? Or can you not tell me that, either?"
Nat turned slightly to her side as Alfred joined her. "The priestess is..."
"Scary?" Nat asked. Seemed like the demon was still taking over.
"...something like that."
Nat smiled slightly, and turned back to Shree. "Roomie, just let her go."
"Why?" Shree said, looking at Nat.
"Just..." Nat said, shaking her hand in front of her face.
"That doesn't cut it," Shree said. "I don't think your life would have been spared if it was the other way around, and you know it."
Nat just shook her head absently, and looked at the demon. "Are others coming, too? Like you?"
"Y-Yes...there's a bounty" - and the demon pressed her lips tightly together, as if having said something she shouldn't have.
"A bounty..." Nat murmured thoughtfully.
"Exactly why we shouldn't let her go," Shree concluded cheerfully. "I'll just finish her off" -
"Or she could go scare the other demons about someone like you and that could change their plans about coming," Nat told Shree. Nat sighed, and turned around to leave. "Do what you want. What a waste of bullets."
"Well, now you've killed the mood, roomie," Shree complained. "Hey, Curly, what should I do?"
"M-Me?" Matt said, pointing at himself, slightly shocked at his new and sudden nickname.
"Yeah, you. What should I do - let the demon go like my roomie says or just finish it off?"
"I-I think you should let the demon go," Matt said hesitantly.
"Let her go," Nat repeated herself, and suddenly stopped. She turned around, and looked the demon dead in the eyes. "But don't do anything stupid."
The demon felt a chill up its spine. First the priestess with the daijin, and now the priestess with the holy bullets. They could just defeat their foes without drawing their weapon - the priestess with the daijin just had to start talking, and the priestess with the holy bullets just had to give a look. As soon as the demon felt the pressure from its back ease, it summoned up whatever little energy it had left, and vanished from their Realm.
-o-
"Really? The only person who can call me bitch is you?" Nat deadpanned.
"Hey, don't blame me if I'm possessive," Shree said.
Nat snorted as she removed the pouch and the underwater assault rifle. "This was completely useless right now. Could have just stuck with my keshi."
"How in the world did you think you'd be able to follow both the demons so deep into the water? You didn't even wear your water skates," Shree reminded. Nat shrugged, to which she said, "Oh, so you would have gone halfway, remembered you have water skates, and gone back to take it?"
Nat shrugged again as she replaced the rifle in the panel. "Probably."
"You're insufferable."
"And you're using big words again," Nat said, and turned around. "Was the idol installed?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, I wouldn't have joined you when I did," Shree said. "You're going into the water now?"
"I'm already in my swimsuit. Might as well make the most of - hey, Matt," Nat cut off on seeing Mathew towering behind Shree, followed by Gilbert and Eliza.
"Priestess...can we ask you for a favour?" Mathew asked.
"You can call her Natalya or Nat, you know," Shree said, turning around and leaning against the car. They all turned to look at her. "I'm serious. You've known her every single day for nearly two months now. If you don't start calling her Natalya or Nat or Alya - people rarely use that - or Nattie - that's her favourite," Shree teased, and grinned at Nat's visible irritation. "Well, if you don't call her that now, when will you?"
"Do...you mind?" Matt asked Nat.
Before Nat could get in a word, Shree thumped him on the shoulder cheerfully. "Of course! As her roomie, I give you full authority. Well, all of you, actually."
"They had something to say, Shree," Nat muttered. "Call me whatever you want. Except Nattie."
"Except Nattie," Shree agreed. "Only I get to call her that."
"You forgot 'bitch'," Nat supplied sarcastically.
"And 'bitch'," Shree answered cheerfully.
"Getting back to the topic," Nat said pointedly at Shree, and turned to Matt. "What is it, Matt?"
"Well...the three of us wanted you to teach us some things. Both of you."
"Oh?" Shree asked, straightening and moving away from the car. "What's up?"
"Could you...please teach us some incantations? Just the basic ones," Eliza quickly added. "Also, something about self defense, too."
"It's like this," Matt said upon seeing both of their faces, "whenever something threatens any of us, the three of us are unable to...well...do anything. We just stand there, or worse, get in someone's way. And that demon said that there's a bounty, so other demons are bound to come. So..."
"The awesome me cannot stay away from any more battles!" Gilbert yelled loudly, and he was immediately followed by a loud thunk! of metal against skull. The other three winced.
"Hmm...I can understand your concern," Shree said, and turned to Nat. The two of them talked to each other in the language common to only the two of them, and turned back to the three of them. "We will," Shree said cheerfully.
"Really?" Matt said, excitement visible on all their faces.
"But on certain conditions," Nat added somberly, and their excitement faded in degrees. "First of all, I am not too sure of letting any of you wield a gun with holy bullets." Nat began to explain: "For one, it has a stronger recoil that most normal guns, and the recoil is three to five times stronger. If you're inexperienced and you're using a rifle with holy bullets, then it's sure that your shoulder will dislocate, or, even worse, you may fracture whichever part you're using to support the weapon. Of the three of you, I know Matt has great physical strength, so I don't feel great concern in his using any of the weapons I use, after suitable training."
"Well, you clearly have amnesia, Nat," Shree chided. "Didn't you see the way Eliza - I can call you that, right? Awesome - Eliza wielded that pan? That's monster strength right there. Carve the correct mantras on the surface of the pan, give it a new handle, attach a chain to it - and voila! You have a long distance and short distance combat weapon!"
Nat stared at Shree for a long, long time, then finally gave up and sighed. "I don't know how that brain of yours works."
"And, Gilbert, you're a doctor, right?" Shree said, turning to Gilbert. "You have the knowledge, but you just need to know how to put it to use. You've heard about acupressure and acupuncture, right?"
"I see what you mean," Gilbert said, unusually thoughtful.
"Well, I'm not an acupuncture master, but I do know the basics," Shree said. "Nat knows a couple of things, too."
"I am not so clear on that," Nat said. "It's been a very long time since Wang taught us any of the movements."
"I remember a couple. I'm sure you'll remember as soon as we start," Shree said, and looked at them. "I guess when we're moving around, we could teach you some basic mantras for warding off spirits and some other things. It'll be very basic, mind you, because the mantras or incantations that we use are very high level ones. If you use them, they will just be a couple of words put together. Their true strength comes from the spiritual energy and power of the user, and not of the words itself as such," Shree explained. "Don't worry, we'll teach you those mantras that are effective in any situation. If nothing else, it'll give you time to move away from your enemy."
"I'm sure that will be more than enough. Thank you, thank you very much," Matt said, and the other two thanked them as well.
"Hey, don't mention it!" Shree said, and her face suddenly grew serious. "But one thing."
"What is it? Eliza said as the three of them grew serious.
Shree suddenly burst into sheepish laughter. "The thing is, I really, really want to play in the water right now. Could we start this a bit later, if you don't mind?"
"Well, there are four more hours before the boat we want comes along," Nat informed.
"Yeah, so...please?" Shree said, dragging out the 'please' for as long as she could.
The three of them grinned. "Of course," Matt said.
"Awesome!" Shree said, and stripped right there until she had nothing on but her one piece swimsuit. "Come on, Nat! Last one to the water is a baby!" Shree yelled behind her as she ran towards the beach.
"Práklon, Shree! You cheater!" Nat yelled out as she dashed behind Shree.
The three of them chuckled. "Come on, Eliza, Matt! Let's go, too!" Gilbert said, and grabbed Eliza's hand, dragging her to the water.
"I'll come in a minute!" Matt called out behind them, and leaned against the doorframe of the car. He waited until the four of them were in the water before he spoke.
"Are you there, Alfred?"
He heard a chuckle from the other end of the car. Matt turned around, and saw Alfred climb into the car - the side doors on either side of the mini SUV were open, and Matt had sensed Alfred's presence from somewhere in between the conversation.
"Hey, broski," Alfred said, smiling tiredly. Matt climbed in as well, and sat down. He watched Alfred press his head against the back of the shotgun seat, leaning forward.
"Tired?"
"Very." Alfred was quiet for some time. "What were you talking to the priestesses about?"
"On how to be useful," Matt chuckled, and proceeded to sit just the way Alfred was. "You know, I feel so utterly useless when things like this happen."
"Don't say that."
"It's true, Al. Every time" -
"Mattie, don't say that. You're my brother. You're never useless," Alfred interrupted Matt, and it stayed quiet between them for a while. Alfred then chuckled. "If there's someone who's useless, it's me."
"What do you mean?"
Alfred sighed brokenly. "Think about it. Every time I'm in some kind of danger, either the demon kicks in or I get my ass saved by the priestess - and now there are two of them. I can't do shit, and I always get my ass saved by someone. And when it's all over, I remember stuff, but it might as well be me sitting on the sidelines and watching all the stuff happen to me, and not being able to do a thing about it. That..." Alfred sighed. "I don't like that at all, Mattie."
Matt pursed his lips, but kept quiet. He'd never thought of it from Alfred's point of view before, mostly because he...Alfred looked like he was in motion, or he was doing something, but Matt never bothered to see whether it was truly Alfred doing all that, or whether it was someone else.
"And according to Shree, I can't touch any of the stuff with the holy writings. It'll burn my body, just the way it burnt that demon's body. And I...I don't...I can't be the hero of my own life, Matt."
Could it get any worse?
Alfred didn't say it, but Matt heard it loud and clear. He...he didn't know what he'd do if he'd been in Alfred's shoes.
"Hey, Alfred?"
"Yeah, Mattie."
"I don't think anyone could live your life the way you have, and come out of it like this. I can't think of anyone who could face the things you've faced and still be able to smile at the end of the day. If you could survive your own life, Al, then kicking a demon or two's ass isn't really that big a deal for you, you know."
Alfred's eyes widened as Matt's words sunk in. And slowly, he smiled. He began to chuckle, then to laugh, moving away from the front seat and falling into the backrest of his own seat, laughing until there were tears in his eyes.
"Oh, Mattie. I'm glad I have you," Alfred said, grinning at him. "No one can cheer me up the way you do."
Matt grinned at Alfred, but something caught his eye. He leaned forward, and brushed his hand against a mark on the side of Alfred's neck. "Al, what's this?"
The happiness in Alfred's eyes gave way to pain, but the smile on his face remained. "Oh, that? That's the mark. From the chains."
Matt's eyes widened as he remembered how he'd found his brother. Had so much time passed? At one hand, it felt like he'd met his brother just yesterday, and now...Matt's fingers traced the scar down the side of Alfred's neck, over his chest, and stopped at the hem of his vest. "Are they all over your body?"
Alfred nodded.
"Is that why you always wear this vest?"
The nod came slower, but it did come. "Not exactly. I don't mind the marks. I just...I don't know how others will react to it. How...how you will...react..."
"Hmm," Matt hummed, and sat back in his seat. "You don't need to hide anything from me, Al."
"It's not pretty."
Matt shrugged. "So?"
Alfred just sighed. "I'll just show you." He pulled up his vest, and tossed it over the headrest of the front seat.
Matt just kept quiet, his eyes slowly moving over the scars, the criss-cross of white over Alfred's body. Alfred didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what Matt was thinking, either - he'd put on his thinking face, and Matt's thinking face was the most inscrutable thing Alfred had seen.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Matt said at length.
"What?"
"The warriors mum used to talk about," Matt said, and smiled.
Alfred felt a sudden weight lifted of his shoulders, a weight so heavy that he realised he'd forgotten to breathe. "Yeah," he said, and smiled.
"Speaking of mum," Matt said, "Priestess Shree actually reminds me of mum. What do you say?"
Something seemed to click in Alfred's head. "Ohh. So that's whom she reminds me of," Alfred said as if he'd just realised.
"Yeah," Matt said, smiling. "She's cheerful and helpful and really knowledgeable. She can suddenly be scary, too, at times."
"I know what you're talking about," Alfred agreed, and something suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, Mattie."
"Yeah, Al."
"She's really cute, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Matt sighed happily. Suddenly he caught himself and looked up, but by the time he could open his mouth, it was too late. Alfred already had that look in his eyes.
"Uh huh. A real cutie, that's Shree," Alfred teased.
"Oh, shut up," Matt said, and plonked his head against the backrest of the front seat, giving up. Alfred would never let this go.
"And man, oh man, what with that swimsuit, she's that much" -
"You know what?" Matt said, opening the door, "I'm going to ignore you, and I'm going for a swim."
"You can't ignore me if I'm coming along with you!" Alfred said, jumping out right behind Matt.
"You guys! How long are you going to take?" Shree called out to them, and turned to splash water at Nat.
"Last one to the water's a dirty dung beetle!" Alfred called out and sprinted to the waterline.
"Wha- hey! You cheater!" Matt yelled behind him, and sprinted right behind him.
"I thought you were ignoring me!" Alfred yelled as Matt caught up.
"Well, screw you, Al," Matt retorted, and overtook Al.
"Oh no you don't!" Al cried out, and dived towards Matt, grabbing him around the waist.
And, with a loud splash, they both fell into the water.
A.T.: And that ended with a little bro-to-bro talk. I'm sorry if it's a bit emotional and not all that manly (or that's what I thought), but the thing is, Alfred and Matt both independently feel that they've already lost a lot of time with each other, and whatever time they're getting now is not enough for them to waste on beating around the bush. And they feel they need to tell each other exactly how they feel, and not hold things back.
Well, I did say last time I wouldn't upload a chapter this week because I'd be off to Manipal, but the thing is I didn't go. You could say I chickened out at the last minute. The thing was, it didn't feel right - for those of you who don't know, my grandma (maternal) lives there, and she is also my music teacher, so I go to Manipal to learn music. Well, I would have readily gone any other time, but I really wanted to stay at home. After being in the hostel, you really begin to value home and every minute you spend there like nothing else...so I decided to stay at home. And hence, the chapter.
I must say, this chapter came out a hell lot better than I expected. It's...it's pretty damn awesome.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I sure as hell had a lot of fun writing this.
All my love,
R. K. Iris.