A.T: Yessss...got one chapter uploaded this week.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, Pinkdoughnuts, FOR THE REVIEW! Yeah, I love Alfred and Matt's little talks, as I like to call them, and I love AmeBel, although it doesn't feel like AmeBel as much as it does as AlNat. I guess you'll like this chapter, too ;)
People, do leave reviews. It makes me happy :)
Don't own Hetalia. For some reason, I feel the need to say this in every chapter.
Coming this March will be two years since Adei passed away. I'm glad I've taken this up again. I can't promise anything when I have exams, but until then, for Adei, for everyone reading this and enjoying this, and for the story itself, I'll do this to the very end. Unless something happens to me. But let's hope that something does not.
Enjoy!
Chapter 14
"Okay, that's enough target practice. You're going to finish all my bullets," Natalya said, taking her gun from Mathew. "But remember, a gun with holy bullets" -
"Has a greater recoil. I know, priestess. I can handle it," Matt said, smiling.
"Aw, Nat's concerned," Shree teased, looking up from her place next to Elizabeta and Gilbert.
"How about you carve those inscriptions on that pan before I get to carving inscriptions on your ass?" Nat growled.
"Aw, Nat's being cute," Shree repeated in the same tone. "You love my ass the way it is. You didn't let me get a tattoo on it in third year."
"That's because you were drunk," Nat reminded her. "I don't have any particular attachment to your rear end - I wouldn't have heard the end of it if you had gone ahead and gotten that tattoo."
"You guys drink?" Matt asked, surprised.
"Occasionally," Nat said. "We have a particular time allotted for alcohol - we had, as students. Now we don't touch the stuff, unless it's for medical purposes. That way, the warrior Houses are much more lenient on alcohol protocol that the academic Houses."
"Especially the House of Flame," Shree added, and Nat grinned. "We used to joke," Shree continued, grinning as well, "that they're called the House of Flame because of the brand of vodka they like to use, which leaves a trail of fire in your system after you have a gulp of the stuff."
"Ah, good times, good times," Nat said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Actually, speaking of leniency, the warrior Houses are more lenient about meat protocol than the academic Houses, if I'm not wrong," Shree said, and Nat nodded in agreement.
"They expect the warrior Houses to be strong enough to fight, so the relaxation is on most protocols. But, then again, the first thing they do when you join the House," Nat said, "is make you lose all sensation in your tastebuds. You eat for the nourishment of the body, not for the enjoyment of the senses. So I'm not complaining if I get my protein from an animal or a plant."
"That makes sense," Eliza mused.
Nat sat down in front of them, and Shree patted the spot next to her in a way of asking Matt to sit down as well. "Where's Alfred?" Shree whispered to Matt.
"He's still asleep," Matt whispered back, and Shree nodded. "Well, he was meditating the whole night through, so I'm not surprised," she said.
"Were you there, with him?" Matt asked.
"Well, halfway though. Whatever I needed to teach him he seemed to have grasped, so I left him at it. Nat said he was still meditating when she came out in the morning to do her katas, so" -
"Will you guys stop muttering?" Nat snapped without venom, and Shree just grinned to Matt before turning to what Nat was pointing at.
Nat had unfurled a map which had crosses and lines at particular points. She put one atlas on one end of the large canvas map, and another atlas on the diagonally opposite end. "Now let's see," she muttered. "We need to get here next," she said, tapping at a black cross on the map.
"Sendurst," Gilbert, who was on the other side of Nat, read out slowly.
"It's quite a ways inland, Nat," Shree said. "Will we be able to reach Sendurst as soon as we reach port?"
"No, it'll take at least two days," Nat replied, tracing her finger around. "Give me that book," she said, pointing at one of the atlases while still staring at the map. Eliza, closest to the book, reached out and handed it to Nat.
Nat put it on the map, and began turning pages until she reached the map she wanted. It looked to be an enlargement of the area Nat had been tracing with her fingers, the area between the port they were about to land to and Sendurst. Nat ran her fingers through the paths she could make out and shook her head as she straightened. "Nie. If we keep going without any breaks, it'll take two days. But, with breaks, it will take a lot longer."
"And, as usual, we can't not take breaks," Eliza said, looking pointedly at Gilbert.
"What?" he protested, and the rest of them, excluding Shree, who didn't know, shook their head. Gilbert had one leaky - or seemingly so - bladder, or he felt pukish, or he had one million other ailments which absolutely required them to stop the car every half to three hours.
"Sendurst, huh..." Shree mused, rubbing her chin. "Let me see that map, Nat."
Natalya turned the book and pushed it to Shree, who was sitting opposite her. "What happened?"
"I just remembered something, but I'm not sure..." Shree trailed off.
"Hey! What's happening here?"
They all looked up. Shree smilingly greeted him hello, while Matt grinned at his brother. The other two, who had gotten used to Alfred and his presence, smiled at him. He grinned his sunshine grin at all of them, and walked around Shree and Matt before plopping himself right between his brother and Natalya, making the latter snarl at him. Alfred just cheekily grinned at her, and asked her, "Do you mind?" before putting his head on her shoulder without waiting for her reaction. Nat fumbled for words, shell shocked, unable to think up exactly what it was that she wanted to say, gasping like a fish. Shree just threw her head back and laughed at the condition of her poor friend, who was so shocked she didn't know whether she was supposed to be irritated or not.
Finally gaining her senses over the distinct, pleasant smell of his hair, she raised her free hand, furious enough to push him off the boat and into the water, only to have him whisper, "If you try to push me off, priestess, I'll just have to bite into your neck to hold on. And you already know the feel of my bite."
Nat turned a furious red, and the hand she'd held upright began to shake. Memories flooded her, memories of that day.
-o-
His tongue slid into her mouth, and she moaned - it was an alien feeling, but it felt so, so much at home. His hand was tangled in her hair, and the other one slowly moved down her back, his fingers rubbing circles into her back. The heel of his palm changed the angle of her face, tilted it.
More. He wanted more.
He drank out of her, like a parched man reaching an oasis in the few moments before his death. He ate her up, like a child who had to go hungry for too long. Their tongues met, his teeth bit into her lip, and all she could do was moan, helpless in the tumble and rush of sensations that mixed up into one huge tsunami and dragged her underwater.
What his mouth was doing was the only thing she could concentrate on, until his hand found her derriere and squeezed it hard.
He pulled back, and they both panted, their lungs burning - with need or lack of air, she didn't know.
"More. I want more."
He pressed his mouth over hers, his tongue running over her lips, then through her teeth. He probed, and drew back, nipping at her lips at one time, nipping at her tongue, gently holding it until she moaned, and then letting go.
Nat drew back, and dropped her head into the crook of his neck, too...overwhelmed to be able to feel anything anymore. She didn't even know whether she was alive or not, but she could feel his hands brushing her hair away from the back of her neck. "Natalya, you're all sweaty, love," he whispered. "Will your skin taste salty, I wonder," he whispered, mostly to himself, and Nat couldn't feel herself blushing - she was burning all over by a fever he'd ignited in her, and all she could do was burn away until there was nothing left to burn. She felt his mouth sliding over her skin, his lips burning holes into her mind, fueling the flames that were burning between her legs.
His fingertips seemed to dance on her skin at one time, then press languorous circles into her skin. His fingers slipped beneath her shift, and found the metal clasp holding her binds together. His teeth teased the skin of her neck, and a thousand pinpricks burst underneath her skin over and over again. His tongue probed her skin, soothing it before his teeth gently grasped it in between them. His hand slid underneath her binds, massaging her back.
All all Nat could do was bury her head deeper into the crook of Alfred's neck and moan.
Suddenly, Alfred moved, and Nat's eyes flew open, but before she could react, he was on top of her, crouching over her on all fours, and she realised that the bedsheet was now covering her.
That meant...
"Yes, Natalya. If you look down, you're in for a treat," he teased softly, and winked. He placed his elbows on either side of her head, and leaned down. "Do you know how gorgeous you look, baby? I just want to eat you up right here," he murmured, his words flowing over her skin like warm, dribbling honey. "And, if you turn to you right, you'll be able to see what I mean."
"H-Huh?"
"Oh, darling, you sound so sexy right now," Alfred groaned, and buried his head in her neck. "You smell like lavender, you know that?" he murmured. "There's a mirror to your right. Turn to your right."
Involuntarily, she turned to her right, and her gaze met with cloudy eyes in a peculiar shade of blue. If she could turn a deeper shade of pink than she already was, she would have at the sight of...them. Her skin was flushed, her lips were swollen and parted, her eyes were clouded with lust, and her hair was in an absolute disarray, carrying no semblance of the braid she'd arranged it in earlier.
And there he was, crouching over her, his head in her neck, his bright blond hair contrasting against her sliver tresses. She could see the swelling of his muscles - he was in no way compromised in the department of a Greek God-like body. Scars marked him all over, like an intricate loop playing across his skin. His back sloped upwards before disappearing from the mirror's reflection, and if Nat moved her head in the slightest, she could see much...
Aah, she could become a darker shade of pink.
Alfred raised his head, and their gazes met in the mirror. A powerful jolt of awareness passed through her entire system, and she found herself unable to look away.
"See what I mean?" he whispered. "Now, don't look away," he murmured as he lowered his head. "See exactly what I see." He lowered his head to the right side of her neck in such a way that she could still see what he was doing.
And before she knew it, she felt his teeth sink into her neck.
-o-
The mark was no longer there, thank God, but she still remembered. With a growl, she turned away, and knew that the durak was grinning, even though she couldn't see him. Because he was thinking about it, too. And she knew Shree was staring at her face, which was still red - in fact, the trip down memory lane just served to make it redder and hotter - and she continued to look away and pointedly ignored everybody.
"Okay, ignoring that for the present," Shree said, looking back into the map book. "Ah! Here!"
Nat's head jolted around. "What?"
"I knew there was a temple nearby," Shree muttered in self-congratulation. "So, see. I don't know how you calculate distance in your head by looking at a map without having to write it down somewhere, but...look here," she said, turning the map. "If we were to stop here," she said, tapping a point on the map, "for a day, and then continue, would it be easier to reach Sendurst?"
Nat thought for a while, then nodded. "Yeah, it would be a lot easier," Nat said. "We could stock up on supplies, stay for a night, and then drive for another day to reach Sendurst. You are right. It would be a lot easier."
"Okay, so it's settled then," Shree said cheerfully, but Matt looked at her suspiciously. Something was wrong here.
Nat frowned long and hard at the book, and Shree quickly said, "If you get tired, I could take up the driving"-
"Which temple is this?" Nat asked slowly.
"Natalya..."
"Shree, which temple is this?"
Shree looked like she was trying for the last time. "Do you think you know?"
"Dy. Shree..."
Shree knew Nat's warning tone when she heard it, and knew it best to give up. "The House of Bell."
"Headquarters?"
Shree answering sigh grew heavier. "Yes."
Nat suddenly got up, and Alfred almost fell down. "I'm not going," Nat said in their common tongue.
"Nat" -
"Nie, Shree," Nat said as Shree got up. "I'm not going."
"You're being" -
"I don't care what I'm being. I'm not going."
"Nat, it was a long time" -
"I don't care, Shree. I don't care how long ago it was. I am not going."
"Don't tell me you still hold a grudge" -
"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm not going anytime soon to see that asshole's sorry face."
"But you said it was the best way to go!"
"That was before I knew where we would stay a night - how the hell do you expect me to stay a whole bloody night under that asshole's hospitality?"
"Well, you at least agree he's hospitable."
"Shree!"
"Nat, be logical!"
"I am!"
"No, you're not!" Shree yelled, and she knew that their yelling match had not only gotten the attention of the three still sitting down, but also other boarders of the ship. "Natalya, we don't have time to lose! Demons are already behind Alfred, and you can't waste any more time holding on to an age-old grudge which got settled a long time ago! Do you want to see any of them in danger?"
Nat just stood still. Shree, with experience, knew that Nat was trembling with rage on the inside, but she'd long since learnt how to hide it. But Shree knew, and as much as it hurt her to ask Nat to do something she didn't want to, she...she didn't have a choice, now. If she did, things would be different, but she didn't.
"Nat..." Shree tried one last time.
Nat just turned around and stormed away, muttering, "Do what you want."
"Alya!"
Nat stopped.
"Alya, please," Shree begged, using a nickname that she used only when every part of her being was dead serious.
Nat remained silent. Shree felt like she was repeatedly hitting her head against a wall with cement spikes - with metal tips - jutting out at each corner, when Nat got into this mood.
"You're driving till there. As soon as day breaks, I'm driving the hell out of there." Without another word more, Natalya walked away from them.
Shree just sat down, feeling extremely tired, and leaned on the nearest shoulder she could find, which happened to be Matt's. "That girl...why is she so stubborn?" Shree sighed.
"Why didn't she want to go?"
Shree raised her head, and looked at him. "Huh?"
"Why didn't she want to go to the House of...Bell?"
"How do you know she doesn't want to go there?" Shree asked, surprised. Ever since Shree had said House of Bell, Nat automatically switched to their common tongue.
"I can follow what you say...at least parts of it," Matt said, turning slightly pink under Shree's scrutinizing gaze.
"He's gifted with languages," Eliza supplied, and they turned to her. "He's always been very good with languages."
Shree just nodded. There was definitely more to Mathew Williams Jones than what met the eye. "Well, I can't give you the exact details," Shree said, resignedly, "because Nat would kill me. Still, without the exact details, it would sound a very foolish thing to be angry about. If you think about it, it might be - but as her friend, and because I was there, too, I can understand where she's coming from, as you might put it. At the end of it, the...other party was not offended or did not carry a grudge, but I guess Nat still is angry about it."
"She wouldn't seem like the kind of person who would carry a grudge," Alfred said.
"She isn't," Shree said. "But she takes a long time to forget what has happened. Even if she can forgive it, she can never forget it. And there are some things she will never forgive," Shree murmured, the very remembrance of the things Nat would never forgive drawing grief into her heart.
"So, what happened between frau and the House of Bell?" Gilbert asked.
Shree sighed. She could never make them understand it completely - hell, she wouldn't have understood anything if she hadn't been there herself - but, for Nat's sake, she was going to try.
And she tried.
"Hey."
The demon in my head was...a presence. Imagine mist gathering over the water of lake during a winter night - the way it moves, the way it changes its shape at the shifting of winds. My mind was like that lake, and the demon was the mist - there was no form to the demon, unless it was the form of my dead old man during his prime, or sometimes the old hag Alice, also during her prime. But, like heavy winter mist, the demon's presence could be felt, and the demon's voice came from that disembodied, mist-like presence.
"Hello, Alfred."
The demon was much more...sociable, now. Well, he actually tried to make conversation with me, no matter how much it sucked. I'd come to know the demon was a he, but he didn't tell me his name - he said that their name was associated with their mind, and every time they died and were born again, they were given the same name. It seemed that their people could read the name of their mind, and it was the name they were given through every rebirth they experienced. It was the name used when they were summoned, and it carried a lot of power. It wasn't like our names, apparently, because we were given a name on no such basis, and just on the whims and fancies of the parents. Some cultures were, he said, and those cultures gave the correct names based on the time of the child's birth and the position of the stars and the heavenly bodies at the time of the child's birth. But most cultures in the world of my dead old man's, he said, wasn't like that at all. A name was just a name, and had no power.
"Do you want to talk?" I asked him. Sometimes he was in the mood, sometimes he wasn't. I guess he missed home, but he never told me what he thought about otherwise. Like Shree said, there was a lot for me to learn.
"What do you wish to talk about?"
"You could talk about your home."
I waited for a reply, but got none. He usually didn't start unless I started talking about it, but I guess talking about such a topic would probably not be the best, considering the fact that we'd just started being...not hostile to each other.
"Or we could talk about anything else you want."
His presence shifted, and moved slowly towards me. "Are you more comfortable if I take a form before you?" he asked.
"Nah, I'm not particular about anything. Besides, I find it rather...uncomfortable when you take the form of my dead old man and sit in front of me. Can't get much talking done if you do that."
The demon knew. When Shree used to mediate, he had taken that form a couple of times, and try as I may, I couldn't open up when that...form was in front of me. It was almost disgusting how similar the old man had looked like me, or more precisely, how much I looked like him when he was my age. The only way to differentiate between us was to look at his classy clothes and the beard that he sported, as compared to my tees and jeans and no beard look. And when the demon took that form, his voice would change, too - usually, when he was like mist, he would have a number of different voices speaking his words at the same time - male, female, young, old - all kinds of voices. But when he took the old man's form, the other voices would still be there, but the old man's voice would dominate.
And I hated - still hate - my old man.
For abandoning Ma, for separating Mattie and me, and for punishing me for his mistakes - I hated him for all that. And, unlike Mattie, I was glad he was dead, and that the priestess was the one to kill him.
"I shall stay this way, then."
"Suits me just fine," I told him. I needed to start talking first. "I don't remember much of when I was a baby. I guess my memory starts around when I was four or five. That time, we used to live with Ma - my mother - in a cabin in the woods. The nearest school was in a village half an hour from our home, and Ma used to drop me and Mattie there every single day, and pick us up when school was through. She'd buy us a cupcake and some sweets from the bakery on our way home every day after school. On Sundays, she'd take us grocery shopping with her, and buy stuff. Mattie loved anything maple, so she'd asked the grocery dude to get maple syrup just for her, from the city. And he did. Mattie drowned - drowns, still - everything in maple syrup," I chuckled. "Mum used to make us all these yummy things to eat, and at night, she would make us sleep on either side of her and tell us stories. After a while, though, we were given our own room.
"It used to rain like crazy, where we lived. Terrible thunderstorms and everything. I always say that Mattie was the scared one, and he always said I was, but truth is," I laughed, "we both were scared shitless. Ma would come then, and sleep with us. She'd make Mattie milk and cracker sandwiches with maple syrup, while I'd get hot chocolate and choco-chip cookies. Clearly, I got the better end of the deal," I chuckled. The demon was closely listening to me. At times like this, the focus of his presence would be on me, and it was palpable - I could feel it. That's how I knew he was listening.
"We were there with Ma until we were fourteen or fifteen. Then..."
I couldn't get myself to say anything any more. The memory hurt so much. All those memories. They hurt me like nothing else could. "I guess you could say I was the happiest back then - no worries, with my Ma and Mattie. That was my home."
And that's all I could say. My throat felt like it was swelling up on the inside, and it hurt. So did the inside of my ears. My nose began to run, and my eyes were filling up quickly. The red I envisioned as the inside of my mind grew blurred, and I drew up my knees to my chest, cradling myself. Home. That was home. And I'd left it all behind, on that godawful day.
The day I met my dead old man.
A.T: The thing is, I actually wanted to continue it until the demon spoke about his home, too. But when I reached the last sentence you see here, I realised...it was perfect, actually. And I decided to leave it at this.
I introduced two of my friends to Cowboy Bebop...and they love it. For all of y'all haven't seen Cowboy Bebop - GO WATCH IT. Or, if nothing else, go listen to the OST of the show. You will not find classier pieces of music as any piece in the OST of Cowboy Bebop. Yoko Konna is an absolute genius.
Also, I suggest Black Lagoon, Chobits and Trigun. Watch Trigun until episode 7 - things get spicy from then on ;) For some reason, I seem to like the seventh episode of all four anime, which I find extremely cool.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you again next week!
All my love,
R. K. Iris.