"Oh shit" Alfred stayed as low as he possibly could, the others doing the same thing. They hid behind corners or tall rocks inside the cave while Rome put out the fire in the middle by stomping on it with his foot. The creature outside snarled, rearing it's head around before slithering to another direction, it didn't appear to have any eyes, just a big gaping mouth with sharp pointed teeth in seemingly never ending rows, it's color consisted of blue, brown, black and red a very unlikely set to be seen together. It had a pungent smell, that of burning rubber, and it's of enormous size. The middle of the creature looked transparent and also very swollen, exposing it's stretched organs and a sort of green goop inside it that sploshed from side to side every time it moved but never far from the middle as if there were two walls separating it from the front and back side of the creature, whatever it was.
"I think I'm gonna blow chunks" Gilbert emphasized his statement by clamping a hand over his mouth and looking away from the creature, it's not that the creature itself unnerved him, it's that middle part of the creature that gave him heebie jeebies. What kind of sick joke is mother nature trying to pull here?! Matthew looked unsettled as well, actually he looked a little green, he swallowed down the bile in his throat, hoping no one noticed "What is that creature?" Yao asked, doing better than most of them "It's a groundworm, something near the lines of олгой-хорхой, the Mongolian death worm. But I've never seen one like….this" Arthur explained after being silent for a while, he's encountered many of these creatures before, but it doesn't mean he liked it.
"That's sorta cool, but not really on the account that we have to face off that thing…uh do we?" Alfred asked nervously. Rome shook his head, much to the younger's relief "We don't have to" He whispered "All you need to do is sneak past it and get to the exit it's guarding" Rome pointed at the narrow hole near the worm, it was still slithering around restlessly. Matthew noticed it had gash marks in some parts of it's body, it lead him to wonder…"Have you fought this creature before?" They all looked back at the old man, Rome smiled sadly and nodded "Yes I have…a long time ago, I fought it because I wanted to achieve something I crave and up to this day I still want it…" He sounded almost melancholic "If you don't mind me asking, what did you want from it aru?" Yao raised and eyebrow, genuinely intrigued.
"My freedom" Was the simple answer given to him. They were a bit taken back by the man's answer, but before they asked questions that would pry deeper into it, Rome crept forward with an old rusty sword in his hand "Come on, it won't be long until it starts getting smart and actually search every corner of the cave" The group exchanged glances but eventually they followed the immortal out of the mini cave and into the open where they could be in a lot of trouble. The worm growled below them, slipping through sharp stalagmites. The cave they were in was high above the worm and a narrow path winding down on the side of the wall lead to the exit below, but being high above the creature doesn't mean they were safe, if the worm decided to lift itself up into a straight position then they're screwed "Just stick close to the wall and stay quiet. When we reach the end of the path, I'll branch out from all of you and stay as far away as possible from the exit, the worm is locked on my scent only, so don't go near me down there okay?" Rome whispered at the group tailing behind him. Michelle swallowed when she spotted the worm below, she dove deeper into Alfred's pocket and hoped they'd get out okay "Wait Rome!" Alfred grabbed the man's arm, stopping him from proceeding down the path "Si?"
"Why don't you come with us? Don't you want to leave the cave?" The question struck Rome harder than it should. Conflicting emotions sped through the immortal's features, it was what he wanted since then right? He quickly removed the unwanted expressions on his face and returned it to his usual happy demeanor "That's a hard question, but yes I've always wanted to leave the cave" Alfred tilted his head to the side "Does that mean you will?" He wasn't given any answers as Rome descended down the path again. Arthur punched Alfred's shoulder, the swordsman bit down a whimper "What was that for?!" Arthur rolled his eyes at him "For being insensitive" Alfred stuck his tongue out childishly at the mage then followed Rome down the path.
They stayed as quiet as possible, in fear that the worm would hear or see them. Everyone felt cold, no matter what they did the chill never left their bodies, most held their breath or kept them as small as possible, their shoes lightly scuffed the ground while they pressed their backs into the wall as much as they can "Sh-" Matthew bit his tongue when he stepped on unstable ground, causing a small part of the path to break off and fall into the ground. Gilbert held Matthew so he wouldn't fall over himself. The piece fell to the ground and broke into smaller pieces.
The worm shot it's head up seven meters away from where they were, hearing the sound. It slowly turned around to inspect what happened, the group held their breaths as it went directly below them, looming over the broken piece of the path, he snarled and looked around, the green liquid in it's middle swiveled from inside it's body. They hoped it wouldn't look up, but that's where they were wrong. The worm spotted them after jerking it's head up, they came face to face with a big gaping maw with sharp triangular teeth in a never ending red cave within seconds "FUCK!" Matthew shouted, he rarely cursed out loud but who wouldn't when you were staring straight at a creature big enough to swallow a small house. It screeched at them, saliva flying out of it's mouth and at the group "BLEUGH!" Alfred wiped the worm spit off his face with a grimace, Arthur on the other hand was only moderately covered in spit behind a small broken barrier he managed to conjure up "Disgusting creature…." He shivered when he felt the spit slid down his back, he was so going to take a bath after this. Gilbert spat out some of the saliva that got into his mouth "GROSS! IT'S UNAWESOME GERMS ARE IN MY AWESOME MOUTH!" He practically started to wipe his tongue on the wall, rather than having some creature's backwash in his mouth. Yao was luckily able to hide behind Matthew, but the other wasn't amused with it. The worm leaned it's head back and opened it's already wide mouth as much as it could, it was preparing to strike.
"RUN!" The group hurried down the path just as the worm dove into the wall, it rattled them but they continued on. Debris started falling from the ceiling, threatening to hit anyone close enough, the resistance members picked up speed just as the worm shook out of it's missed shot. The worm roared and readied another strike. Yao looked behind him, seeing the worm bare it's teeth then shoot forward in godlike speed, his eyes widened in fear once he saw where it was heading "GILBERT!" For a moment in time, everything stood still. The doctor thought he heard a scream, but it sounded too low to be the albino's.
A figure darted out from the creature's side, wielding an old silver sword, he caught a glimpse of light brown hair flying in the air before the figure landed on top of the creature's head.
Rome.
There was a sound of a blade cutting through slick skin, blue goop flew and the worm arched back and screeched in pain. It twisted and turned, trying to shake off the man on it's head, sometimes ramming into walls just to get him off, Rome on the other hand anticipated the worm's reaction and dodged the walls as much as he could "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT GITS?! GO!" Arthur snapped them all out of their terrified daze, they sped down the path and landed safely on to the shaking ground below while dodging the falling debris up above "We need to leave FAST! We could get caved in!" The exit was a mere ten meters away from them, they just needed to dash through the stalagmites, the thrashing out of control worm, shaking uneven grounds and dangerous sharp debris that could kill them falling from above.
No big deal.
"Come on!" Alfred went first, maneuvering his way through rocks and falling ones from above, Yao followed behind him then Gilbert, Arthur and Matthew. The slid, jumped, rolled and crawled their way through the destruction falling all around them "The exit!" They were about to slip into the narrow cave, but the worm brought it's tail down and cut them off. They all skidded to a halt, looking up at the creature and spotting Rome on it's backside, swinging his sword around like mad. Alfred took a step back, he had to admit that this looked awesome but this wasn't the appropriate time to say it, the creature wasn't as swift or slippery as it's smaller brethren, but it's size and odd construction that he couldn't help but follow it's movements with icy fear "GO!" Rome shouted from above, bringing his sword down once again on the creature's flesh.
"WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Matthew shouted back. The worm flicked it's tail away from the entrance to the exit, thrashing it around behind it near a wall full of elemental stones, they broke and began to unleash their power. Elements shot through different directions, depending on what the worm hit. Rome laughed "Don't worry! I know what I'm doing! I'll be fine!" He reassured them like a grandfather would his grandchildren "Now go! Get out of this cave! That exit won't stay open forever!" He referred to the falling debris that was beginning to gather around the exit "BIRDIE COME ON!" Gilbert ran and took Matthew by the wrist, they dove into the exit followed by Yao. Arthur was about to follow too but a certain swordsman didn't move an inch.
"What's wrong moron?! MOVE!" Alfred stared wide eyed at the mage, his gaze flickered towards Rome battling the worm not too far from them. Arthur caught his gaze and quickly paled "Oh no! you are not going to do that Jones!" The mage's words fell on deaf ears. Alfred quickly ran towards the worm, sword unsheathed "JONES!" Arthur groaned and stomped his foot on the ground, he was going to hate himself for doing this. Begrudgingly, he ran after the swordsman and hoped his that he could at least conjure up a spell or two despite his current instability. They ran back up the path they were on earlier, but it proved difficult because of the broken rocks in the way. Alfred looked back to see Arthur running behind him, he smirked at the thought of the mage willing to help but quickly shook it away, they had to save someone.
They stopped just above the thrashing worm, with Rome cutting through it's middle, spewing the green liquid everywhere, the worm roared a scratchy roar before twisting it's body into loops "What's your plan now hero?" Alfred ignored the obvious mockery at the end and simply smiled at the mage "We jump on it and attack!" He said enthusiastically. Arthur steadied himself when he was about to fall over, he wasn't sure if it was from the shaking cave or this swordsman's stupidity. Before he could retort, Alfred gripped on to his wrist and jumped. All insults Arthur was originally going to throw at the American quickly disappeared and was replaced with a shocked scream.
They landed near the middle of the worm, where Rome was currently shredding the swollen lump into pieces. The elder looked up and gave them a shocked gaze "W-What are you still doing here?! You should get out!" Alfred smiled triumphantly "I'm the hero! I wasn't about to leave you fighting this thing all by yourself!" Rome on the other hand simply glared at him "I know what I'm doing! I'm not about to risk your group's safety like this!" Arthur shook his head at him "You should know that idiots like him never give up until they get the result they want"
"Yeah! Idiots like- Hey!" He pouted at Arthur but quickly dropped to the worm's back when it started rolling around, the three gripped on to the creature as hard as they could so they wouldn't get thrown off. Once the worm went upright, Rome stood up and jumped in front of the two "You need to leave! NOW!" He shouted. Alfred on the other hand, wouldn't have it "NO! I'm going to help you beat this thing!" Rome grimaced. He shook his head and them then went back to where he left off, hacking the creature to pieces "It's a yes then!" Arthur sighed "I think he gave up trying to save your sorry arse from death" Alfred ignored him and began to do as Rome did. He pierced he sword through the creature's flesh and started to run through it's body, the worm shrieked and practically flung itself to the wall, Arthur's eyes widened, he took a deep breath but quickly stopped himself, remembering where he was
"IGNIS!" He shouted a simple spell instead. Fire shot from his arms and hit the wall behind them, the worm sensed the burning sensation close to the wall and immediately bolted away in fear of searing it's skin. Alfred yanked his sword out of the creature's skin, blue mixed with green liquid hitting the swordsman's body, he looked back at Arthur and flashed his signature smile "That was awesome dude!" Arthur stiffened then looked away from Alfred as quick as he could 'It's only a basic fire spell…what's so 'awesome' about it?' But Alfred's comment somehow made his heart flutter, he could even feel his stomach do flips, Arthur paled 'Dear god, am I allergic to this twat?!' He shook his thoughts away. What absolute nonsense….or is it?
Rome looked up, seeing the cave slowly collapse on itself. He glanced back at the two behind him, using the same fruitless tactic he used in centuries past. He grit his teeth and gave the worm's neck one last stab, watching it slowly heal itself once more. He ran towards the two and scooped them up into his arms "What the-" "Bloody hell!" He ignored them and jumped off the creature, making a mad dash towards the exit. The worm, realizing it's nemesis had fled, roared loudly as it spotted him running for the exit, it's sharp teeth retracted from inside it's mouth, then it shot out blood red magma. Rome looked back and yelled in shock when a bit of the magma managed to hit his leg "ROME!" Alfred stared at the magma on his leg, it was beginning to harden "I-I'm fine! Wormy there just ate a weak fire stone" He joked. Rome continued to run, but he began to slow down due to the magma hardening on his leg. They were three meters away from the cave but the worm was relentless.
It shot out more of the magma, they barely missed the trio it was aiming for, but it was a little pleased when it managed to hit the immortal's leg. He bolted forward and slid on the ground at a fast speed, determined to get rid of the bane of it's existence in this accursed cave. Rome looked back, eyes widening when he saw the worm advancing "Be good boys okay?" He mumbled the phrase he had said once a long time ago. Arthur caught it but he decided not to say anything "Hey Rome dude, what did you sa-" Alfred didn't finish. Rome threw both of them towards the cave, they screamed in surprise but managed to reach it just as the worm was upon the immortal. Rome grabbed the worm by it's teeth, his inhuman strength enabled him to push back at the monster, keeping it at bay.
Alfred groaned, shaking his head as he pushed himself up, he helped Arthur up as well just as the mage started to get out of a daze as well. They stood up, but it was only half way considering how low the roof was "ROME! COME ON! WE CAN MAKE IT OUT HERE TOGETHER!" Alfred shouted out to the immortal, still pushing at the worm. Rome shakily looked back at them, he slowly smiled "N-No, I have to stay, t-there's no p-place for me out there, n-never was" Tears started to flow down the immortal's cheeks, but he still held his shivering smile "B-Besides, where would I-I go? I'm sure m-my family i-is not even there a-anymore…but you b-boys, you still h-have much to live f-for out there. Don't disappoint me. NOW GO!" Alfred was about to step out again until Arthur held his arm tight "Oh no you aren't you stupid git!" The mage dragged him towards the end of the exit, the swordsman still struggled in his grip, trying to reach out to the immortal "ROOOOOME!" He shouted out one last time before getting out of earshot.
Rome chuckled, closing his eyes. He could hear the faint rumbling of the falling cave and the heat of the magma beginning to escape the worm's mouth "Such nice boys" The walls collapsed, hard rocks hitting the ground and breaking, the elemental rocks shattered as well, only a few still stayed in their positions/ The worm growled, building up the magma from within it's body. The debris fell in front of the exit, completely sealing it off, the cave shook and rattled violently, any other person would have been petrified in fear, but Rome was calm and…. actually happy.
'I'm tired'
'Then why don't you rest old friend?'
'Yeah! Then we can go eat out and dance with girls right?'
'Mm, sure. Whatever you want'
The worm shot it's final blast of magma just as the cave closed in on itself.
"Alfred! Arthur!" Matthew pulled the two out of the hole, Arthur first then Alfred. He grunted once when he tried to pull his brother out "Jeez Al, cut down on the meals will ya?" Alfred pouted and pushed himself up "I'm not fat! You're just not working out as much as you should Mattie!" Yao walked up behind them, he looked all of them over for injuries. He sighed in relief, looks like they weren't all that scratched up, but he may need to disinfect some of the wounds.
Gilbert looked himself over, trying to see if there was any damage done. He was happy that he still looked awesome and- "SCHMIDT!" He looked around frantically for the horse, his heart hammered in his chest, that horse was one of the best freaking things that ever happened to him next to Gilbird "OH MY FUCKING GOD! I THINK WE LEFT SCHMIDT IN THAT CAVE!" He ran around in a circle, unsure of what to do. The others looked at him in befuddlement before moving to catch him and try to calm him down "GIL STOP!" Matthew reached out to take the panicking albino's arm but to no avail. The others circled him and tried to close him in to restrain his movements "FUCK! HE'S DEAD NOW ISN'T HE?! HELL NO! SCHMIDTY COME BACK! I DIDN'T MEAN TO CALL YOU A PUSSY! IT WAS A JOKE SEE?! HAHAHA!" Eventually, Matthew, Alfred and Yao were able to box the Prussian in, although Gilbert was still moping.
"GODDAMNIT! FIRST GILBRID NOW SCHMIDT?!" He shouted out in frustration. The others exchanged worried glances "Look Gil, Schmidt was a good horse aru, and I know you took a liking to him when you first laid eyes on him but….you have to understand that the things we get into may not be easy for the animals we bring aru, and sometimes we just have to accept that…that they won't stay for long" Yao remembered his own lost buddy, a cute panda bear he used to carry around in a basket on his back. Needless to say, the little bear didn't last long.
Gilbert frowned, looking at the ground. He saw his own shadow, he grimaced at it, Schmidt was the same color. Michelle popped up from Alfred's pocket, she flew up after she confirmed that the albino stopped wailing "Hihi" She giggled. Alfred looked up at her in surprise "Michelle! This isn't funny!" He scolded, was she really that insensitive. The fairy's amused smile didn't falter despite Alfred's scolding "You guys are blind, his pony is right there!" Yao and Matthew's ears perked up to the fairy's statement "What? Where?" Matthew asked her. Michelle flew down and landed on Gilbert's shadow "Right here!" The group stared at her, then at the shadow. Gilbert looked up at them, confused "What're you guys looking at?"
"Gil, can you move for a sec dude?" Alfred asked. Gilbert rolled his eyes and stepped to the side "I don't see how this is going to help me-WHAT?!" He stared down at his shadow, or what was supposed to be his shadow, still on the same spot he stood on earlier. His real shadow was actually behind him. A neigh brought them all back, the shadow jumped up and began morphing into a solid shape "SCHMIDT!" Gilbert ran to the horse in excitement, he immediately jumped into the saddle and hugged the creature "THAT WAS AWESOME! When did you learn how to do that?!" Schmidt shook his head and simply stomped on the ground "Aw whatever! You're still here at least!" Yao sighed and shook his head, but he was still somewhat amused. Matthew smiled, at least Gilbert wasn't going to whine all the way towards Avia. Alfred laughed along with Gilbert, he was really happy for him. Also the group just completely ignored the fact that Schmidt just came out of Gilbert's fricking shadow! but what the heck, they've seen a lot more messed up shit than that. Although somehow the swordsman couldn't shake off an itching feeling climbing up his spine, like something was missing or something was about to go wrong. A cartoonish lightbulb turned on in Alfred's mind, he nervously looked around "Uh guys? Where's Artie?" The group went silent "We suck at watching prisoners"
"Oh? YA THINK?!" Matthew shouted "Great now he's gonna spill to the army about our plan" Alfred patted his brother on the back "Relax dude, he couldn't have gotten far! Let's just go after him!" Yao frowned "And how do you suppose we find him aru?" A string of curses filled the air, followed by the occasional 'bloody hell' "Found him!" Alfred walked up to Gilbert with a knowing smile "Hey mind if I borrow your horse bro?" Gilbert looked him over, as if inspecting him "I dunno, are you awesome enough for-"
"GIVE HIM THE DAMN HORSE ALREADY!" Yao and Matthew shouted out together. Gilbert raised his hands up in mock surrender "Alright jeez! Don't get your panties in a twist!" He stepped down from Schmidt and let Alfred board him, the horse jerked a little bit at the change of riders "Hey bud! Don't worry I'll take good care of you for now" Michelle flew in front of the horse with a cheery smile "yeah! You can trust Alfie" The horse seemed to calm down at the sight of the fairy, Alfred nodded in approval at Michelle's deed "Okay! Let's go!" He turned the horse into a different direction from where it was originally facing and raced off into the forest they entered "We'll be right behind you Al!" Matthew shouted.
Arthur ran, he didn't care where the hell he was going to wind up in, just as long as he was as far away as possible from those lunatics. Just from first glance he knew that they were a magnet for trouble, if those marauders and groundworm wasn't proof enough, he'd dare anyone else to say otherwise. He ran past thorn bushes, low branches and tall grass, he was going to find a way to the army soon, he knew it. He smirked at the thought of those impudent rebels at the mercy of the kingdom, on their knees and begging for forgiveness just to be sent away to be executed at the town square. A painful feeling shot at his chest, he stopped and looked at the ground, wasn't he supposed to be happy at that mental image? Why did he suddenly feel so conflicted?
To be honest, the image that haunted him the most was the one of Alfred hanging by a noose, completely still and eyes lifeless. That just didn't sit well with him at all! 'No! he deserves it! He's practically a criminal and he's threatening the kingdom!' But for once he didn't agree with his thoughts. He pushed his feelings aside, whatever they are. Who cares about what happened to the rebels? As long as he's well and good enough to move on with his life then let them get executed! He grimaced, what's with all this confusion?!
He shook his head and began to run through the thick forest again 'It's probably just trauma or something…trauma, trauma, trauma, trauma…' He repeated the word in his head like a mantra. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost didn't notice a horse galloping close "ARITE! HEY!" He flinched 'Alfred?!' He looked back to confirm that the American was indeed chasing after him, on a horse. He paled, no he can't go back to them now! Not after waiting for the right moment to escape! He ran faster, trying to conjure up a spell to help him get away from the persistent American, his powers are starting to stabilize but still not all the way "Come on come on come on!" He balled his hands into fists and concentrated on his power, trying to concentrate them into his hands.
Once the sufficient amount of energy built up in his hands he turned around to execute the spell "Fumus!" A wall of smoke burst in between them. Schmidt fell back, neighing, the distraught animal stomped on the ground and backed away from the hot steam "Whoa! Sch-uh..smith? whatever! Calm down! Whoa boy!" Michelle flew in front of the horse and tried to calm it down as well "Schmidt! Be calm! Nothing will hurt you!" The fairy had to dodge the shadow horse's frantic head bashing, it took a while but they managed to at least keep the stallion from thrashing around. Michelle used her own magic to lower the spell Arthur cast, she opened a temporary hole through it and let Alfred and Schmidt jump through first before following herself.
Alfred spotted Arthur up ahead, but he was really far away. The swordsman wasn't about to give up now though, he wouldn't let the mage go that easily "Hiyah!" Schmidt ran once more, with Alfred telling the horse to go faster. The stallion started to get tired of the swordsman's loud requests to gain more speed, finally the horse had enough and began to sink through the shadows, dragging Alfred along with him "What?" Alfred felt lighter and tingly, he watched as his own body was slowly consumed by shadows, at first he wanted to just jump off the horse and just run after Arthur.
….
….
…
NAH! "OFF TO ADVENTURES!" Alfred laughed as he and Schmidt melted into the shadows, Michelle clung onto him. Arthur looked behind him, hearing the swordsman's last cry before sudden silence came next. No clopping of the horse's hooves against the ground, no annoying comments or laughter from Alfred, just a whole load of nothing. The mage skidded to a halt, he couldn't see the swordsman anywhere, he actually started feeling concerned, a man the horse he's riding on couldn't have possibly disappeared into thin air!
Possible scenarios crossed the mage's mind, either they were abducted or fell through some hole on the way. Or maybe…had he imagined all that up? After being alone for so long at his post near the keep, maybe he had gone bonkers like the soldiers had said. He frowned, if he really had imagined all that up he must still be at his post near the keep, probably talking to a wall or something, though the very thought of having imagined all that up with his sick mind left him rather empty and disappointed, and feeling rather lonely 'Calm down Arthur, don't start scaring yourself like that' He breathed out, realizing that he actually held his breath "Haha very funny Alfred!" He took one last glance at the forest, unsure if he should actually continue.
In the end, the mage simply shook his head and continued running to wherever he might end up in, but he did feel like he was ripping off something important from him the further he got from the group he left behind 'Damn resistance…' He was suddenly cut off by something huge and dark, and somewhat transparent. Arthur gasped and stopped running, he prepared to attack "Wait! Artie whoa there!" The shadow spoke up, startling the mage. Alfred flailed his arms around as the shadows melted off him, he relaxed when he saw Arthur lower his hands as well, Schmidt grunted and shook off the last of the shadows from his body. Alfred made a mental note to congratulate Gilbert about gaining such a cool horse.
"What the bloody hell Jones?!" The swordsman turned his attention back to the mage "I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to stay with your dim witted resistance any longer!" Alfred jumped off Schmidt and made his way towards the mage with a calm smile. Arthur stepped back, glaring at Alfred as if daring the man to touch him "And I thought I made it clear that I don't want you to leave my 'dim witted resistance'" He gripped onto Arthur's arms, making sure that the mage wouldn't escape from him, but if he did try, he could still hunt him down and drag him back kicking and screaming if he had to. He expected Arthur to lash out on him for keeping him restrained again, to his surprise Arthur simply held his glare. Wow, if looks could kill, Alfred immediately prayed to whatever God is up there that his conclusion about Arthur not being able to cast spells without his hands was correct and there wasn't a slowly burning hole in the middle of his forehead "Apparently you didn't because we wouldn't be in this situation would we?"
The swordsman scoffed "Why are you trying so hard to get back to that no good kingdom of yours? They're evil dude!" At this Arthur's expression changed to that of anger, he shoved the American off him rather harshly, causing the swordsman to nearly bump into Schmidt behind him "Evil?! I think you should take a good long look at yourself first! A rebel trying to take down the royal family, someone who has the blood of hundreds of good soldiers on his hands!"
"Well your precious 'good soldiers' have the blood of thousands of innocent people all over them!"
Arthur scoffed "Don't make loop holes Jones, we are talking about you and your little resistance here so shut it. And about that, who's fault do you think it is that we had to move to more drastic measures? Oh that's right, it's because of the trouble you rebels always conjure up!" Alfred groaned, what does he have to do to make this guy see just how unjust the kingdom is? "What about what Rome said? He told us the kingdom was gonna wage war on all things magic! Isn't that sorta on the evil side?" The mage waved him off like a fly "Oh please that man has been in that small dark cave for centuries, he must have been a little bit bonkers" Alfred balled his hands. He breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down "Don't even go there Arthur! Rome practically sacrificed himself and his happiness to protect those elemental rocks from people like those in the kingdom" He made sure he emphasized the last part.
Alfred didn't see it coming, Arthur launched himself at the swordsman and punched him. The American staggered to the side and held his swelling cheek, he never knew the mage could actually hit him that hard "You shut it! Those people saved my life and you're asking me to join you and betray them?! Don't make me laugh. The kingdom has done nothing more than good to me, they've been the only people I could turn to when I actually needed someone! I will never turn my back away from them!" Alfred scowled. He wasn't mad at Arthur though, he was mad at whatever sick bastard brainwashed him to think that way about the kingdom "Well Artie you're wrong about them" He straightened himself up and walked towards the mage who was still shaking with anger "If you saw what they've done to the people, I don't think you'd be idolizing them now"
"I don't believe you" Arthur crossed his arms in defiance. Alfred sighed "Then I'll just have to let you see it for yourself"
"What do you me-" Alfred hit Arthur on the head with a nearby log he managed to pick up, the mage fell to the ground, unconscious "ALFRED!" Matthew called out, Yao and Gilbert not too far behind. The rest of them finally caught up, they panted and leaned on some trees- or collapsed near a tree in Gilbert's case- once they caught up to the American. Schmidt galloped towards his master and nudged him a few times to see if he was still alive "Did you…did you get him?" Matthew wheezed out, trying to catch his breath. Alfred nodded and slung Arthur on his shoulder like he did before "Yep! Out for the count for now" His brother sighed in relief "Was h-he…trying to…get back to t-the kingdom?"
"Yeah but I got him" Alfred smiled.
They decided to rest up for now, seeing as though they still had time to cross the boarder later, Yao tended to everyone's injuries while Gilbert got some R&R with Schmidt by his side. The twins had gone to a nearby clear blue lake to take a bath and finally get the worm saliva off their skin, but Matthew on the other hand wanted to talk to his brother more than get clean "Do you think it's still a good idea to keep Arthur around?" Alfred looked up at his brother when he heard the question, the swordsman was in the middle of removing his shirt "Yeah bro, why?" He discarded his shirt and went to untie his boots "You saw what almost happened, he tried to run back to the kingdom, if you hadn't captured him and he did make it back, we'd be hunted down by soldiers and palace mages every single night and day! And when they do catch us, it's lights out for everyone in the resistance" Alfred laughed, like it was a joke, he removed his boots then his pants until he was just in his undergarments, though he immediately jumped into the lake after that. Matthew shielded himself with his tattered jacket, that he had already taken off before, but it provided little protection from the splash Alfred managed to make from his jump. The swordsman resurfaced and ran a hand through his wet hair "Aw relax Mattie! It didn't happen did it?"
"That's not what I'm talking about Alfred. I meant what if it could happen? This is definitely not going to be the last time Arthur tries to run away from us" Alfred frowned and did a doggy paddle through the water to go near the edge of the lake "Then we'll make him not want to run away!" Matthew raised an eyebrow "What?" The swordsman grinned and kicked water at him, luckily the archer saw it coming and jumped away before it hit him "I mean, make him one of us, y'know part of the family!"
"Won't that be hard though? Isn't he loyal to the kingdom?" Alfred nodded, a sad expression crossing his face "Mhmm, you should've seen him earlier. When I said that the kingdom was evil he flipped out on me and started preaching about how 'good' they were, how they 'saved' him and all that jazz. Look!" He turned his head and gestured at his now slightly swollen cheek "He even punched me to prove his point!" Matthew's eyebrows shot up "So that's where you got it…Anyway back to the matter, yeah the kingdom isn't actually as 'pure' as they claim they are but I think I can understand where Arthur is coming from judging from what you told me" Alfred floated on his back, eyebrows furrowed in confusion "Huh? You're not telling me that you think the kingdom's good too are you bro?"
"No Al, just listen first. You said that Arthur told you that the kingdom supposedly 'saved' him right? so to him they're as much of the good guys as we are to the people, and we're the bad guys" He decided to put it in a language his brother could at least understand. Alfred hummed "So? They're still the bad guys Mattie"
"Wait, think of it like this. What if suddenly you were taken from everything you know, meaning the resistance, and people start telling you to join the kingdom's army instead-"
"HELL NO!"
"Be quiet Al and let me finish! They tell you things you don't understand, like things what the resistance has done that aren't exactly good deeds-Face it Al, we had damages on our side before too- Then they show you the good and just things that the kingdom is after, so up to that point you'd probably be confused with what to believe in" Alfred scoffed "Yeah right! I'd never turn on you guys! You're my peeps!" Matthew nodded "Exactly, and that's how Arthur feels about the kingdom. In his eyes, possibly ever since he was younger, they were the heroes he's always looked up to, people he wanted to be like when he grew older. They raised him. They probably taught him about people like us and naturally, he has the same hatred for us as the kingdom has because that's how he was brought up. Then suddenly we come along and practically destroy everything he knew in a single heartbeat. If you were in his place, I think it'd be the same, and besides we aren't in the right place to judge, you never know if there may be good people in the army and the kingdom, we can't label them with one thing like 'evil' only if we don't even have the slightest idea about who those people are. Maybe they're bound by duty? Maybe something's threatening them? It's against their will? You'll never know Al"
This actually got the swordsman thinking. Alfred sunk into the lake until it almost reached his nose, little bubbles from his mouth coming out from under the water. Matthew sighed and hung his jacket near a tree "Just think about it Al, our perspectives may not be so different sometimes" Alfred sighed, he got up from the lake and gathered his things on land. With one look at his brother he walked back to their site, without another word. Matthew frowned, he really hoped his brother could understand Arthur's situation if he really was planning on persuading the mage to join their resistance.
A/N: One last chapter until I enter what my whole school has dubbed 'Hell week' no really I'm not kidding, my whole school (I'm seriously not joking, my school's fricking huge, it's a private school that looks close to an academy) calls it that due to the lack of sleep and tons of work everyone has-including the teachers- so this is practically like something I'm leaving from my will here in this website. Anyway I know nothing really happened here, a worm battle, a failed escape and a small talk wasn't what I originally wanted to go for but I ran out of time with all the tests and projects piling up on Monday. I hope I survive this week, one time a classmate of mine got sent home because she cracked under stress and went mental (scary bros O.o)