Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

Me: Any A/N?

Authoress: hmmm...

Me: Pls reply to Anne tyvm.

Authoress: hmmm... (for the next 5 mins -.-)
Should i go for the OMGGGG THANK YOUUU -RUNS AND HUG- or the thank you so much for your comment! Much more interesting stuff will be happening in the future so you can count on it!

Me: U better come up with one or I'll copy and paste the whole thing.

Conclusion: she opted for -hides in a corner-

A/N: In behalf I thank those who followed/& faved this and Anne's who has reviewed. And sorry for the late update.

Chapter 05

Alfred was glad that there was only to be a small dinner party instead of an all-out ball on the night before they were to leave for Urbis. He doubted that he could last through an entire ball again and be up early in the morning for the trip. He had spent the entire morning sleeping after that ball, only finally truly waking up in the afternoon when Ivan had decided to pour freezing cold water on him again.

Only those leaving for Urbis had been invited for the dinner, to allow both parties to get to know each other a little better before heading off at first light tomorrow. Standing idly beside his Father who stood calmly by the head of the long polished marble table, Alfred watched as Arthur in his royal blue suit calmly entered the dining hall with his three travelling companions close behind.

Walking up to them with his companions in toll, Arthur stopped about an arm's length away from the King as he formally introduced Alfred to him, "Prince Arthur, thank you for joining us tonight. I hope you remember my youngest son, Alfred."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I thank you for a wonderful dance Alfred." He smiled, turning to Alfred with his hand slightly raised as Alfred relieved by his words, hoping he meant it, took his hand gently and shook it.

Releasing his hand slowly, Alfred shifted slightly to his right, allowing the three behind him to be seen. "These are my companions, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo," he introduced, as Antonio took a step forward, tilting his head slightly and nodded towards Arthur who merely smiled and nodded back.

"Wang Yao."

"It is a pleasure to meet you aru." Yao said stepping forward confidently, putting his hands together and bowed.

"The pleasure is mine." He replied, bowing with the smile still on his face.

"And Ivan Braginski." Alfred finished as Ivan merely stood there and smiled, while Arthur a little crept out by the innocently smiling man returned the greeting with a bow.

Turning back to face him, Alfred waited politely for Arthur as he shifted slightly, allowing his three companions to be seen clearly as he introduced them.

"This is Ludwig." He said, as a tall well-build man with blond hair swept back to his hairline and blue eyes took a small step forward and bowed.

"It is my honor to be here, Your Majesty, Your Highness." He said with a serious expression on his face as both Alfred and King Roderich returned the greeting.

"His fiancé Feliciano Vargas." As Arthur turned to look at a man with short brown hair that had a lock of curled hair at the left side of his head. Said man's brown eyes were currently glancing around the dining hall, completely distracted by his surroundings.

Ludwig quickly nudged him, hissing softly. "Feli!"

Feli turned to look at him, head tilted in question. "Ve~? Ah!" he flustered, realizing that everybody was looking at him. "I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you! I'm Feliciano! Please call me Feli!" He smiled cheerfully, as Ludwig sighed softly at his fiancé.

That was when Alfred noticed the simple silver band on both Ludwig and Feli's fingers, making him smile inside. It is always nice to see two people happy and in love with each other, and it somehow made Alfred think of his Mother and Father together before she died, even though he couldn't remember how it exactly was, but knew deep down that they were truly happy together.

"And Honda Kiku." He finished as a slim man with black hair and dark brown eyes bowed down low, at a 90degrees angle. "How do you do. It is an honor to meet your acquaintance."

Alfred heard a small surprised gasp behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yao trying to hide what seemed like an ecstatic grin on his face. Alfred guessed that Yao knew the calm looking man standing before them. With that fervent look on Yao's face, Kiku might be the person he was always talking about. Yao had often stated that his family had been an unrelated branch family of a prestigious family till around ten years ago. And how he wished to once again meet the son of the head family whom he claimed to be very close to.

With the introductions taken care of, Alfred, glad that the more formal part of the dinner has been taken care of, walked to the opposite side of the table followed closely by his three companions and took their seats while the King sat down at the head of the table while Arthur took his seat on his left with Alfred on the opposite side of the table, on his right.

Dinner went by fairly quickly, with small talk going on between them. Alfred was thankful that his Father was present to balance out whatever tension or nervousness there was between the two groups, especially with Ivan's constant child-like innocent looking smile that could make grown man have a nervous breakdown and cry. It had happened before to a few of the new batch of soldiers that Ivan had suddenly asked to train a few years ago. Nobody dared to reject him, and the recruits had practically gone through hell. The whole situation was not pretty sight. Moreover, he could still feel Arthur's presence digging at him. He was constantly glancing at his eyes, fixing on them whenever he thought he wasn't looking.

Arthur was probably still curious about them, Alfred guessed as he smiled at him when he glanced over once more, making Arthur look back down at his food quickly. But he was restraining himself from asking him about it in depth, especially in front of so many people, even though almost everybody in the room knew him personally.

Even if he did ask, which Alfred now didn't really mind even though the Goddess was still a sore subject to him, he doubted that he would be able to answer any of his questions. He himself really didn't know why his eyes were tinted with silver, but his father might have some answers. Though Alfred was sure that his father wouldn't be sharing any of the answers with them.

At long last it ended. The King stood up, followed by the rest with their wine glasses in their hands.

King Roderich lifted his half-filled glass slightly while waiting patiently for everyone's attention, then composedly said, "I wish you godspeed on your journey to Urbis. May the Goddess and Astral Crystals guide and protect you."

Handshakes were given as Arthur and his three companions left the dining hall. Alfred couldn't help but give out a sigh of relieve and smiled as Ludwig closed the door behind him. He still couldn't quite put his finger on the familiar feeling he felt from Arthur during the ball and throughout the dinner. It still rattled him slightly, but it felt less edgy and unknown now, even a little warm and familiar.

"Alfred, could you give me some time with your companions? I wish to speak to them privately." Kind Roderich said softly, looking down at the glass on his hand as he spun it around slowly in his fingers, the red liquid within lapping against the glass from the movement.

Alfred turned to face him, puzzled and curious at his words. His Father normally spoke freely to them even when Alfred was around. Even the three of them were baffled that the King wanted to speak to them privately. Though Ivan as usual just smiled at Alfred when he glanced at his direction.

"Of course Father." Alfred answered slowly, before making his way to the door. "Have a good night."

Looking back at his Father who merely glanced up at him as Alfred gave him a slight smile as he closed the door, Alfred stood outside the dining hall, leaning against the wall waiting for the rest. He was hoping to catch the conversation, but he couldn't make out anything that was said inside the long hall.

Unconsciously rubbing the edge where the corruption ended, Alfred waited impatiently for a few long minutes before the door finally opened. Pushing himself off the wall, Alfred noted the now slumped look on Yao face as they walked out and closed the door behind them.

"What happened?" he asked as Antonio looked at him with a straight face.

"Nothing much. Just His Majesty telling us to keep an eye on you." Antonio waved off.

"Come on." Yao interrupted before Alfred could ask for more details. "We have a long day tomorrow. Best to get a good night's rest aru."

Pressing his lips into a thin frown, Alfred narrowed his eyes as Ivan and Yao headed pass him, while Antonio flashed a grin at Alfred, patting him on the back before heading down the hallway as well.

"Hey come on, tell me what happened please?" Alfred called out as the three of them flat out ignored him.

Finally with an exasperated sigh, Alfred too headed down to his room, knowing that his friends would not spill the beans so easily. Moreover King Roderich had asked to speak to them without Alfred's presence. It gnawed on his curiosity, but he knew deep down that there was a reason for every single action his father did.

Reaching his room, Alfred now tired after the long dinner opened the door while pulling his red velvet tie off to find his brother lying on the couch reading a book while waiting for him. Francis immediately closed the book with a thud as Alfred entered the room, closing the door behind him while throwing his tie onto the armchair diagonally in front of the door.

"How was the dinner little bro?" Francis asked, shifting himself with a slight grunt to sit up straight as he smiled widely, looking at Alfred.

"It went well, all things considered." Alfred answered, taking off the black dinner jacket he was wearing and placing it on the armchair as well. "May I know what you're doing here so late brother?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see you off." Francis said as Alfred looked at him puzzled.

"I am to leave tomorrow morning, not tonight." He reminded as Francis laughed at his little brother's innocent look of bewilderment on his face.

"I have something on tomorrow morning little brother, so I'm saying goodbye now."

Getting up from the sofa, Francis went over to where Alfred stood and raised his hand high before landing it down onto his little brother's head, causing Alfred to winch and buckle slightly from the force, his glasses almost falling off once again.

"Don't worry about home alright? I'll make sure everything is safe and well for when you come back." He continued, ruffling Alfred's hair vigorously.

"A-alright Francis. I almost forgot, but did you manage to find anything about the group under the bridge?" Alfred asked shakily from the force of his brother's hand on his head.

Stopping his painful ruffles, Francis still holding onto Alfred's head merely replied after a slight hesitation with a smirk, "Didn't I tell you to call me big bro? But I couldn't get much. From what I could gather, it was just a bunch of kids trying to have some fun vandalizing royal property."

Alfred hated the smirk on his brother's face more than usual. Francis normally had that look on his face whenever he knew that he was going to win or get away with something. Or when he had set a trap and was waiting for his little brother to fall prey to, which happened often when they were younger, though often times he failed in his deed. But this time, the smirk felt really wrong, as if his dear brother was hiding a dangerous secret from him. Moreover he had hesitated before answering, setting off alarms in Alfred's head warning him that something was wrong.

Pushing aside the nagging feeling and concluding it as plain teasing for now, Alfred nodded in acceptance as Francis finally let go of his head, the smirk on his face now replaced with one of his usual smiles.

"Well then, I'll let you rest little bro. Have fun on your trip to Urbis with Ar-thur." Francis said, purposefully saying his name in a singsong manner as he did a small spin towards the door. "But seriously be careful and come back safe alright? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my dearest little brother."

"I will Francis." Alfred replied while adjusting his glasses back up, grinning at his older brother's antics though he didn't really like where he was going with them, as Francis flashed a grin back at him before leaving the room closing the door behind him.

The following morning Alfred woke up earlier than usual. He had somewhere he had to go first before assembling for the trip at the break of dawn. Leaving his room silently all freshened up as Kuma licked him hand as a form of goodbye, Alfred softly went down the dark shadowy hallway alone towards the back of the mansion.

Instead of heading straight down towards the patio like he always did, Alfred turned right, and soon after a series of small turns, he was out in the cool moonlit air. Closing the tall wooden door softly behind him, Alfred turned to face the small sanctuary standing humbly at the end of the smooth marble tiled walkway.

With the soft moonlight shining on his face, Alfred took a deep breath of dew-covered grass and wisteria flowers before slowly soundlessly making his way towards the alabaster marble stone walled sanctuary. Walking towards its opened doors Alfred felt strangely calm, as if this holy ground where small shards of Astral Crystals had been found, was welcoming him. For this sanctuary that was built to dedicate the Goddess to welcome him, Arthur might be right, maybe he was blessed.

Alfred however, felt a tingling sense of unease and hate as well. A small part of him was shouting that he shouldn't be here, that he should not only leave, but burn down the sanctuary as well. Alfred could guess where the hate was coming from as he took a seat on the front marble bench inside the sanctuary near the middle, facing the open circular patch of grass. A small shard of Astral Crystal lay in a pool of crystal clear water right in the center of the patch of delicate green grass as moon light shone down upon it from the opening of the roof, making the water as well as the shard sparkle enchantingly beautiful.

His Mother had been the Sacerdos, here, in this sanctuary dedicated to the Goddess who had failed, or maybe refused to save her. Every little detail in this small sanctuary reminded Alfred of his Mother and how he missed her dearly. Her sparkling emerald green eyes that held so much warmth and love, and those beautiful small little white flowers she would always have on her long light brown hair that gave off that nice soft scent which Alfred loved. His Mother had spent so much of her time here, with the Goddess who had let her die.

He guessed that that was the reason for his hate to be there, a constant nagging from within, that his mother died. No miracles. He would never find his mother here. Ever again. But no matter how much that small nagging voice inside of him screamed at him to erase this place, burn it down to ashes, he would never in his life ever dream of harming even one strand of grass in that circular patch surrounded by the alabaster floor.

He had made a crack on the wall of the sanctuary when he was younger though, as Alfred turned to look at the small crack line on the wall on his left with a sad smile. It happened shortly after he had learnt that his Mother had died. With all those anger and sorrow within him finally directed at the Goddess, he came here shouting and screaming, and in the process lost himself to the mindless boiling rage, and managed to make a crack on the solid marble wall before his father managed to contain and quell the burning rage inside him.

Looking back at the small pool where the shard of Astral Crystal lay, Alfred felt his mind wonder off to happier times of when his Mother was still alive from the serenity of the place, a soft warm feeling of sadness as well as joy spreading from within, when a small cough jolted him back to reality. Turning around to the location where the sound came from, Alfred saw his Father standing by the entrance looking at him.

"Mind if I join you?" King Roderich asked as Alfred stood up and shook his head in response.

"I had expected to find you here." He continued as he strolled towards Alfred and took a sit beside him as his son sat down as well. "You always came here whenever you were feeling sad or unsure of yourself."

Alfred sat solemnly beside his Father, quietly observing the sparkling water as King Roderich glanced at his son before following his gaze to the small crystal clear pool. "There's nothing to worry about. Yes unforeseen situations might occur, but Ivan, Yao and even Antonio would be there to support you."

Alfred couldn't help but smile at the mention of his three friends. They had been with him for a long time, and had been through a lot together, thick and thin. But that wasn't the reason he was here in this sanctuary. Yes he was nervous and slightly worried about leaving Sanctus after so long, but that wasn't the main reason.

Shifting slightly with his head lowered, Alfred fished the pendant from under his shirt, his dog tag getting pulled out in the process, but left hanging, as Alfred looked at the pendant with clear loss and sadness in his eyes. His Father looked at him holding the pendant on the palm of his right hand silently as well, both thinking back at the origins of the pendant.

The pendant was a keepsake of Alfred's Mother, King Roderich's wife. She had always worn it around her neck and took great care of it, often stating jokingly that it was her next most important treasure after her husband and two sons. King Roderich had given it to Alfred after the incident at the sanctuary, and Alfred was deeply thankful for it. It meant a lot to him, having the one most important keepsake of his Mother close to him constantly.

Letting it go, Alfred sighed softly before looking back up, clutching his left arm tightly.

"It's been aching daily ever since that morning. I didn't notice it at first, it started out as a mere itch but now it constantly feels as if something is gnawing at the edge almost painfully, and it seems to be actually growing slowly, spreading. I'm afraid that this corruption, whatever it is, might kill me."

King Roderich grew silent for a minute his eyes down at the pendant before looking up at Alfred straight in the eyes, as the first cracks of sunlight shone down on the pool making its light sparkle across the corners of the sanctuary as well his Father's face. "You have my blood, and as long as you carry my name, the name of our nation, never bow out of what you began. Carry your head high."

Standing up, King Roderich placed his hand on Alfred's shoulder and squeezed. He looked down at his son with a smile so rare, "I'll see you when you get back."