Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

A/N: Erm... thanks for the likes/fav and putting up with the slowness of the story. Promise things will get more interesting from the nxt chap onwards, though it might take some time but it will be out for sure. And Kiku ignoring Yao was funny, I thought it was funny.

Me: Ure gonna get slapped by a sock.

Authoress: I know lol. But it was funny. I thought it was funny.

Chapter 09

Alfred was the first to jump to his feet, shouting something along the lines of 'don't worry the hero is coming' as he sped towards the screams. Antonio followed suit, worried about the scream they heard, which clearly belonged to a child. While Arthur and the rest trailed behind them grimly, alert and ready for the impending battle ahead. It was getting dark, but all of them could see what was happening before their eyes. A small family of four was being attacked by a horde of Disons.

The huge creatures circled at the family. Their huge mouths wide open in a snarl, rows of wide flat teeth snapping in excitement at the thought of crushing their prey straight on and breaking off limps or parts of their body while they were still alive. The biggest of the Disons stood still, clawing the ground with its sharp hoofs as the rest went on circling, observing their prey. Its tiny nostrils flared as it grunted, eyeing the shaking family with its round brownish black eyes. It charged at the family again, grunting loudly as it went, and quickly changed directions when its teeth snapped at the empty air, trying to impale the poor family with the two long jagged horns on its head.

Alfred knew that even with their bulky size, the creatures were fast and agile. But he couldn't believe his eyes when the alpha Dison leapt off the ground, intent on crushing the boy who had fallen on the ground as his panicked father tried to pull him up.

Alfred instinctively threw a card towards the alpha falling from mid-air as spittle sprayed out of its mouth in hunger. The runes on the card glowed for a second before the card burst into flames right beside the alpha. Alfred almost tripped and was picking himself back up when mid run, he winced as a scream from the boy resounded across the hills as the alpha landed on the ground. There was too little stored magic in the card he thrown, the blast wasn't strong enough to throw the alpha off course.

"That's why I hate having to pour magic into preparing my ace cards." Alfred muttered with an irritated yet furious look on his face.

"Don't worry, just back me up!" Antonio called out as he sped pass Alfred with a look of fierce determination in his eyes.

Antonio slid down towards the alpha, raising his partisan just in time as the alpha reared on its hind legs and slammed down once again. Antonio gritted his teeth as the alpha pushed down hard, trying to reach pass his partisan to snap at his face. He could feel his whole body straining as his arms started shaking, inching lower and lower, as the alpha's rancid breath filled the small space between them. Drool sliding down its mouth onto Antonio's face.

"Move! The hero will take it from here!" Antonio heard Alfred as he warped to his side, urging the shocked family to pull their sobbing son up and get to safety.

Alfred flicked his dagger out and was about to slash the alpha when a loud trampling sound came from beside him, drawing closer and closer. Alfred twisted his body, raising his dagger, jumping back just in time as a Dison rammed against his dagger, knocking the wind out of Alfred as he flew back through the air. Everything seemed to slow down as he tumbled across the ground. He could see Antonio quickly losing strength as the alpha's huge rancid mouth that was clearly grinning hung inches away from his face. He had to do something to save Antonio, but he couldn't get the proper angle to throw a card. He watched in slow motion as Antonio's strength gave way, and the alpha roaring in triumph launched at his face.

"Antonio's going to die, and I the hero wasn't strong enough to save him." Alfred heard himself thinking as he watched a bright swirling ball of red and orange slam against the alpha, exploding on impact. Alfred blinked as the alpha roared in pain and anger, staggering back as smoke rosed from the scorched scales on its side. Alfred blinked again, letting out a soft 'oof' when he tried to stand and found himself coming to a sudden stop against an arm in front of him.

"Watch your surroundings properly next time да?" Cold violet eyes looked down at his as Ivan smiled and pushed him back, causing Alfred to fall back on the ground before continuing his walk towards the horde, swinging his cane while Krolik peeked out of his scarf in curiosity.

Arthur and the rest had finally reached the family and Antonio. Yao was quickly picking Antonio up as Arthur and Kiku stood in front of the family, weapons drawn and ready while Feli cried beside Ludwig who was at their back, fussing over the family, checking the boy's wounds and dressing them with the first aid kid he bought along with him from their camp.

The Disons growled deeply as they circled the intruders to their meal, accessing if it was threat or prey before them. One Dison was about to launch forward growling when a sudden blur came flying down, hitting it across the head, breaking off one of its horns, knocking the creature to the ground, unmoving. Ivan stood beside the fallen Dison, a wide smile on his face as Alfred came running back from behind. The Disons, realizing that one of their brothers had been injured, roared in fury and charged at them, ultimately forgetting the cowering family in the middle.

The first charged at Ivan, angered at its fallen brethren. Ivan sidestepped eyeing the creature critically, and was about to raise his cane to strike it down when a card came flying. He turned his head, shielding his eyes just as the card blew up in the Dison's face. Ivan turned back as Alfred warped in front of him, dropping onto the stunned Dison, slicing his twin daggers deeply across its front legs, causing the Dison to fall roughly face first onto the ground. The Dison tried to get back up as Alfred jumped off its back, but its front legs refused to budge as ice slowly crept across its skin from the wounds.

"What was that hmm?" Ivan smiled as Alfred stood back up.

"Oh you looked like you needed some help." Alfred smiled back at the taller man, invisible sparks seemly flying across them as they stared at each other, wide smiles on their faces.

The tension between the two died abruptly when the alpha roared again, this time enraged. Both turned to see the Disons charging towards the rest, bent on taking at least a single one down. Feli was screaming as he swung his white flag beside the family huddling on the ground. The cloth of the flag landed on the face of the Dison charging at full speed towards him for a second, before Feli flipped it off. Redirecting the motion of the charging creature, causing it to turn away from both him and the family as Ludwig took the opportunity that his fiancé gave to shoot the Dison in the legs, causing it to fall to the ground, struggling to get back up.

Arthur was muttering under his breath, his thick brows furrowed in concentration, one hand crossed in front of him while the other held on tightly onto his cutlass as a pair of Disons charged towards him. Arthur opened his eyes, merely swinging his empty hand out just as Kiku rolled in front of him, catching the first Dison with his katana, the blade glowed a bright azure blue. He directed the force from the Dison's charge to slide down his blade, and sliced it. The Dison fell to the ground with a grunt, trying to get up but it couldn't as blue runes started appearing and spreading across its body from the cut. Sensing something wrong with the scene that had just unfolded, the second Dison skidded to a stop, but it was too late, Arthur easily dodged it and gave it a small nick with his cutlass. Just like the first, blue runes started spreading, and the Dison too was on the floor struggling to get up as only Arthur saw the magic chains wrapping around it.

Antonio was using his partisan to prop himself up as he leaned backwards, away from a Dison charging towards him. He gripped his partisan tight, and in a swooping move, jumped while swinging it in a downwards circle slamming the head of his partisan down on the Dison's body. Electricity crackled through the Dison as it roared in pain falling to the ground. It was about to stagger back up when Yao stepped in and hit in a few precise spots. The Dison immediately fell back onto the ground unmoving. Yao turned just as another Dison ran towards him. He jumped, feet stepping onto the Dison's head as he used it as a platform to jump off to the side, hitting it in the exact same spots as he swerved down the arc to land gracefully. The Dison tumbled straight onto the ground as well, unmoving.

The alpha watched as its brethren fell one by one. Finally as Yao put his hands together to have his sleeves join in front of him, it roared in frustration, staring hard at those who had bested its group, turned tail and ran, as those who could still move hurried behind it, leaving the ones on the floor growling, struggling to get back up.

"Woah how did you do that with a few small japs?" Alfred asked, as both he and Ivan ran down to meet them, a few immobilized Disons trailing behind them.

"Acupuncture." Yao answered simply. "We'd better move. It might not last long." He continued as a Dison which Lugwig shot tried to get back up again.

The group quickly helped the family up, slowly walking them back to their campsite. Feli had done a wonderful job with bandaging the injured boy's leg while Yao tended to each person with Feli, tagging along to help.

"And where might all of you be from?" Arthur asked, unable to hide his curiosity any longer as the Kiku gave each of them some warm soup he whipped up while Yao and Feli were busy.

Antonio moved towards them, tying his hair in a low ponytail after cleaning the Dison's drool off him. His partially drenched hair plastered to his neck, beads of water trickling down. The father glanced at his family for a moment before looking back up at them. "U-Urbis sir. We were escaping from the Monte back at home."

Everybody was stunned. Silence covered the campsite for a moment before Yao urged them on gently. "Don't worry aru. Could you explain to us right from the beginning?"

The father took a sip of soup. "The Monte started appearing about two months ago. We lived at the outskirts of the capital so none of us thought much about it when they started appearing. But after a week or so, more and more of those creatures started appearing out of nowhere, even in the middle of the day. We sent for help from the capital. It took them almost three full weeks to send soldiers over. And it was only a handful of them. By then, the Monte were already at our doorstep, contaminating all our livestock and crops. The soldiers, Goddess bless their souls were so young and brave. But…"

The father paused again, looking down eyes distant, recounting the tragic event as his wife started sobbing beside him. Their son pushed himself towards his mother, giving her a small hug, fighting back tears himself while his younger brother huddled next to him.

Anguish showed on the father's face as he looked back up, fighting his own tears. "The Monte swarmed the town at the break of dawn a week later. The soldiers gave their lives holding them off so that we could escape. Our middle son… he… he couldn't make it. A Monte appeared just when we were about to leave and grabbed him. He tried to fight it, give us more time to run. He… was torn limb from limb and eaten before our eyes as I ran away like a coward. I… I couldn't do anything to save him. It should have been me instead of him!"

The camp fell silent once again as a solemn mood descended upon them. Feli stood at the back, head down staring blankly at his shoes. Finally Alfred stood up with a smile. "We're all alive now that's what matters. Don't fret the hero will make sure justice is served! All the Monte will pay for what they did."

"Hero's don't seek revenge idiot." Arthur muttered under his breath, glaring back at Alfred as he turned towards him flaring.

"Thank you…" The father looked up at the two princes, a forced smile on his face.

"I-I'm sorry for trying to steal your things the other day." The boy spoke up, timidly looking up at Ivan.

"Hmm~ I had fun chasing you." Ivan smile down at the boy, causing him to cower, shrinking down onto the ground, green eyes looking up in fear as Krolik peeked out from the tip of Ivan scarf, and amusingly watching the exchange.

"Why don't we all turn in for the night? There's a village not too far from here. We could bring all of you there before continuing on the road tomorrow. Don't worry. I'll talk to the village head and make sure everything goes smooth." Yao smiled gently at the family as the father looked up at up, tears falling from his eyes as he croaked out a heartfelt 'thank you'.

Everyone was silent the next morning, eating a quiet breakfast before squeezing into the car, driving off to the village. They reached late in the afternoon, all eager to get out and stretch their limbs. Yao headed off with the family to speak to the village head while the rest loitered around the village square.

Ivan sat under a tree, patting a soft feathery creature known as a Casith that was lazing under the tree as well, as Krolik peeked from the edge of his scarf. Ivan was stroking the creature absentmindedly when Krolik shifted violently in his scarf, making him squirm as he reached for the small white creature, looking worriedly all over it. Ivan sighed and let it down albeit reluctant, thinking maybe the creature wanted some fresh air. Ivan went back to stroke the Casith but Krolik flew and hit Ivan before turning away. Ivan blinked before smiling widely and scooped up the squirming Krolik and rubbed his face against his very cute Krolik.

Alfred was stuffing himself full of burgers by a store, as if he had not had them for an eternity, while Antonio who was resting beside him slowly edged himself away, trying to avoid the splatters of sauce and burger bits from Alfred. Arthur sat opposite of Alfred, trying his best to ignore the silvery-blue eyed man while sipping his tea, though an irritated look of disgust was clear on his face.

Ludwig, Feli and Kiku took a small tour of the village. Feli's face however, though smiling looked down. Ludwig walked up next to his fiancé, noticing the change in mood and asked if anything was wrong. Feli merely smile brightly, giving a quick answer that everything was fine before skipping ahead.

An hour passed before Yao returned with the family and the village head. "Thank you so much for helping us." Yao said to the village head as everyone gathered around.

"It is my pleasure. I am overjoyed to be able to help the prince and his companions in any way possible." He replied, bowing down towards Alfred who grinned in reply as the family gasped at the identity of the ones who saved them. "Please, it is getting late. If I may humbly suggest, we have accommodations available for the night. It is not the best, but I am sure that all of you would have a good rest and meal before leaving."

Everyone's eyes lit up at the thought of having a soft bed to sleep in for the night. Even Yao nodded his head in agreement. "It would be good to have a proper rest and see to any injuries we may have before leaving. Through we'll have to pick up the pace and no more stopping for anything unnecessary." He said, glancing at Alfred who simply laughed out loud.

The villagers prepared a feast for their honoured guests while they relaxed at the village square. Dinner was served, spread out across a long table right in the middle of the village square. Alfred and Arthur somehow sat side by side much to Arthur's annoyance at the head of the table. Opposite them sat Yao got to sit beside Kiku who just ignored the man's constant chatter. Ivan was sitting in between Yao and the boy they saved, his smile never leaving his face as the boy trembling in his seat tried to edge away as far as he could towards his father, which wasn't far at all. Antonio sat opposite of Ivan, getting unnerved by the violet eyed man's constant smile as well. Beside Antonio, Feli was strangely quiet, only complaining about the lack of pasta on the table once as Ludwig glanced worriedly at him. The village head and the rest of the villagers trailed behind on both sides of the table, trading stories and laughing merrily.

Night fell as the dinner ended. The village head brought the family to where they would be staying. Alfred waved with a huge grin on his face as they left, while the rest merely smiled. Everyone was excited to see their accommodation for the night. But some of their moods immediately fell when they saw the beds available.

"I can't believe I have to share a bed with you." Arthur groaned, his face in his hands as they stared at the single huge bed in the middle of the room.

"I don't want to share it with you either but there's no way I'm going to sleep on the floor. You can if you want to." Alfred retort as Arthur turned to face him, obviously angry.

"There's no way I'm sleeping on the floor idiot!" Arthur stomped out of the room as Alfred followed, ruffling his hair.

He stepped out to see everyone gathered in the living room, serious expression on their faces. Even Arthur who was angry just a moment ago was leaning on the wall, his face in deep thought.

"It is possible that a lot of places has been affected." Ludwig suggested looking around the room as Feli sat quietly beside him.

"Still the response time is too slow. And the lack of numbers in soldiers is strange…" Yao muttered out loud, his chin resting on his hand, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" Alfred asked, totally confused.

"Can't you see? We're discussing Urbis and what happened yesterday." Arthur grumbled as Alfred looked at him blankly.

Yao sighed before explaining. "You know that Sanctus has troops patrolling at night due to the Monte?" He looked up as Alfred gave a nod. "Every nation does the same, especially now that Emperor Roma has said that Germania may be back. It's said that the troops in Urbis in directly under the 2nd in command. He is a little eccentric, but he is a great commander who cares deeply for his nation and the citizens. It's strange that he would simply allow a village to be destroyed, Monte or not."

The room grew quiet once again as everyone was deep in thought until Antonio spoke up. "There has been rumours going around the street that Emperor Roma doesn't seem to be bothered with the Monte."

"So that means that only the 2nd in command is helping the people out?" Feli suddenly spoke up, even scaring Ludwig a little as he turned to look at his fiancé.

"Would appear so…" Kiku replied softly.

"But recently I heard that the troops are lessening, and well, all of us saw what happened yesterday." Antonio added.

Everyone became silent once again. Feli trembled slightly, his face looked as if he was about to cry. Ludwig quickly knelt down beside his fiancé. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?" He asked, softly holding onto Feli's shoulder concerned.

Feli sat quietly as Ludwig waited for a response before continuing on. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. We'll meet with the rest of the nations, figure this out and help as many as we can." Squeezing his shoulder a little.

Feli looked up at his fiancé's face, forcing a smile on his face as Ludwig smiled back at the smaller man, comforting blue eyes staring deep into brown.

With the discussion coming to an inconclusive end, everyone headed to wash up, and back to their respective bedrooms. Alfred was back in the bedroom, his shirt on the bed as he flexed his left hand, his glove on the bed as well, tracing the corruption with his eyes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep." Arthur suddenly barged into the room yawning.

Both stared at each other for a moment, mouths wide open, until Arthur saw Alfred's strange left hand hanging in front of him.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Arthur asked, curious yet concerned as Alfred quickly hid his hand behind his back.

"I-it's nothing. There's nothing wrong with the hero!" Alfred laughed, grabbing his glove off the bed.

"Just let me have a look." Arthur grasped Alfred's hand towards him as Alfred turned away, not knowing how to react. The black sharp scaly corruption looked familiar to Arthur. But he couldn't remember when or where he had seen it. He reached out to touch it with his other hand, and immediately pulled back as if stung. It was brief, but the contact made him shiver, a feeling close to dread and death sweeping through his body as his finger tingled slightly as if burnt.

Alfred pulled his hand away, pulling on his glove. "It's been there since I was young. It doesn't hurt or anything. There's nothing to worry about."

With that, Alfred pulled his shirt over his head and crawled into bed as Arthur stood standing at him, trying to wrap his head around what he just saw.

"What are you doing? Need someone to tuck you into bed? Or are you waiting for something else?" Alfred smirked, his chin on his hand as he turned to lie sideways. Arthur's face went bright red.

"S-shut up!" Arthur blurt out, stomping over to his side of the bed, crawling in, his back turned towards Alfred's direction as Alfred laughed and lay back down on the pillow, falling into an empty sleep a moment later.