Not gonna lie, this chapter was not given as much editing attention as usual. I am very tired right now, but I had to get this done before I went to bed because I know I would want to do it even less when I wake up than I do now.
But on a brighter side, I'm glad to be home.
I had 76 messages in my email. 76. I have a lot of reading to do.
After much running and darting around to keep from being seen along with keeping up with the twins, the group (the one's that could move around at least) ended up near what seemed to be an abandoned mansion, but if the twins' nose were right, then this was the headquarters they were looking for. After making sure they hadn't been seen, the group hid in the old shed that stood in the garden and watched the entrance.
"Alright. This seems to be the right place. We should come up with a plan. We don't know how many are in there or what else they can do," Ludwig said sternly as he kept Feliciano held in his arms to keep the dog from running off and getting into trouble.
"Bruder, I don't think we can wait to think about it to hard. I think our best course of action would be to try and sneak in. We'll locate Arthur, them get to where he is and set him free. Then we can figure out how to escape," Gilbert said.
"Right," Ludwig nodded. "But then question is what to do about them." He gestured to Feliciano and Lovino, the later of who bared his teeth and growled at him.
"What do you mean?" Antonio asked, gently petting the elder Italian, whom he had scooped him into his arms to keep him from running off just like Ludwig had done for Feliciano.
Ludwig sighed as he petted Feliciano. "I'm just worried that something might happen."
"I know what you mean, but it's not like it's our choice, Ludwig," Antonio reminded him. "If they decide to come with us, then they're coming with us and we can't stop them. I don't want my Lovi to be in danger any more than you want Feli to be, but they are perfectly capable of making their own decisions and you know they would only be mad at us if we tried to keep them some place else."
"… Ja…" Ludwig sighed again. "I understand…"
Feliciano gave a soft whine and turned to look up at Ludwig, licking the vampire's lips gently.
Ludwig blushed at the action (causing Lovino to growl and bark at the German vampire) but let Feliciano do what he wanted while he gently petted him.
"Gilbert and I will go and look for a way in," Alfred volunteered, handing Matthew's mirror to Ludwig.
"H-Hey! Why do I have to go!?" Gilbert complained. He was ignored, however, as Alfred grabbed his arm and started out of their hiding place, heading towards the building to scout it out.
Lovino growled and squirmed free and chased after them.
Antonio quickly scooped the Italian up before he could get to far, returning to the group's hiding place. "No, Lovi. We're waiting here until they find a place for us to get in."
Lovino looked back at him and whined, giving Antonio puppy dog eyes.
"Those cute eyes won't work on me, Lovi. We're staying here until they find a way in. That's that."
Lovino stared at him, then looked away with a huff.
About half an hour later, Alfred and Gilbert returned. They had found a busted first floor window in the back of the mansion, the hole just big enough for all of them to fit through. The group wasted no time in sneaking into the mansion.
When the last of the teens were inside, they allowed Lovino and Feliciano to lead the way, the two of them sniffing out Arthur's location by following the scent of the British teen's magic.
Before long, they arrived in front of a locked door that led further into the basement. A few of the teens hissed and cursed, but Gilbert merely rolled his eyes, stepped forward, and picked the lock.
"Let's go," he whispered. When no one moved, he glared at them and jerked his head towards the door. "Go, before they catch us!"
Reminded of the danger they were in, the group quickly entered the room. Looking around, the discovered themselves to be in an old wine cellar. And, chained onto the back wall, hung Arthur, a strange circle of symbols surrounding him.
"Arthur!" Alfred yelled, running over to the pinned up teen. His strength seemed to suddenly return in a rush of adrenaline as he ripped the chains off the wall and gently caught Arthur when he collapsed.
"H-Hey, hey, Art," Alfred murmured gently, his tone one of concern. "It's me, Al. Are you okay? Look at me, babe, please, look at me." There was fear in the American's voice, displaying for everyone to see the anxiety the merman was feeling as he stressed over the condition of the boy in his arms.
"A-Alfred….?" Arthur mumbled in a small, exhausted voice as he slumped in Alfred's hold, too tired to be able to hold himself up. "O-Oh, dammit… I'm so sorry… I-I never wanted this mess to happen… W-What did those bastards do to all of you….?"
"Don't worry about that," the American teen said softly, holding Arthur close. "Just worry about yourself for now, okay?"
"N-No!" Arthur snapped as he tried to pull himself back up. "I-I need to fix that bloody magic right now! W-What if something else happens!"
"Arthur," Alfred said, his voice firm and serious, "calm down. Take some deep breaths. We're going to get you out of here. Just rest for a moment. Get some strength back before you try anything." He hugged him gently, lightly kissing the Brit's forehead. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
Arthur blushed as he looked away with a stutter to his voice. "F-Fine… b-but only this once for you…. B-Be careful git."
Alfred smiled, relief evident in his expression. "Thank you, Artie. I'll be careful, I promise. Let's get you out of here now though, yeah?" He stood up, holding Arthur in his arms. "No complaining," he said as the magician opened his mouth to speak. "You've been hanging on a wall for who knows how long and your tired and weak now. I'm carrying you out of here and that's final."
"Hmph. I can handle myself." Arthur huffed, but glanced at Alfred out of the corner of his eye. "B-But thank you… for coming after me."
"Of course. I would never leave you here. No matter where you go, I'm afraid your stuck with me, Arthur," the merman said, smiling.
"L-Let's just get out of here…."
Agreeing, the group began to slowly move towards the door. However, just before they reached it, the door opened and hooded figures entered.
There was a moment of complete silence at the two groups started at each other, then a cloaked figure raced to a wall and hit an alarm.
Sirens began to blare throughout the mansion and red lights flashed. More of the kidnappers could be heard on the floors above, running towards the basement.
"Fuck!" Gilbert grabbed the first thing he saw, an old chair, busted off one of the legs, then ran forward to attack, cracking the make-shift bat over one of the figure's heads, dropping him to the floor.
This action sprang the rest into motion, all of them grabbing temporary weapons and charging towards the one who had taken Arthur.
Alfred gently set Arthur in the corner, then took up a defensive position before him, beating back anyone that dared to get to close.
Lovino and Feliciano ran through the fighting, biting at ankles and pouncing on the cloaked men, knocking them to the ground and jumping on them, snarling and tearing at them with their teeth.
"Everyone!" Ludwig called out as he smacked a man into a wall then scooped up Feliciano before kicking another man in the head. "Get out of here now! Antonio! You carry Lovino!"
Alfred snatched Arthur up as gently as he could, then made a bee-line towards the exit. Antonio instantly picked Lovino up when the Italian started to run past him, then ran for the door, the others doing the same.
Holding onto Feliciano, Ludwig shoved a few more men out of the way to clear a path for them. "Move!"
"There's to many of them! We can't make it!" Gilbert yelled, the shear number of cloaked men attacking them making it almost impossible to do anything.
"G-Give me space!" Arthur called out. "I'll force a path!"
Pushing hard, the teens in front of Arthur forced their way to the sides, getting out of his line of attack.
Not wasting a second, Arthur closed his eyes and started muttering a spell, calling up a wave a fire that shot out, burning everything in its path until it faded away.
Moving quickly, before the cloaked men could recover, the group shot down the opening to the door, bursting out of it and running through the halls, not bothering to try the hole again, but heading straight for the front door.
"Faster!" Antonio yelled, holding Lovino tight to his chest, looking back over his shoulder and seeing the men pursuing them. "We won't make it!"
Arthur cursed, then started a new spell, this one to fix the damage the men had done to them, hoping against hope it would work quickly enough for them to be able to fight back with a real chance of winning.
Lovino and Feliciano were the first to get hit with the spell. They howled in pain as their bones began to elongate, making horrible cracking noises, their fur growing thicker and darker, their teeth longer, their bodies larger. Soon, they were back in their original wolf forms and Ludwig and Antonio placed them onto the ground, letting them run on their own.
Next, Alfred and Matthew were corrected, Alfred's merman strength returning to him fully as the self proclaimed hero ran through the hall holding the magician, and Matthew's mirror suddenly glowed bright white before breaking, allowing the ghost to go free.
However, before any of the other's could be returned to normal, they were trapped, the men surrounding them in a tight circle, blocking their escape in all directions. They were in the front room, the door right in front of them, a grand staircase behind them, and a whole lot of magicians crowded in the room. Feliciano and Lovino circled their friends protectively, growling at the figures.
A man appeared on the stairs, literally appearing before them out of the air. "We tried to keep you alive. We made you unable to harm humans. But you vile creatures made it difficult, and now I'm afraid we must take your lives as you are to dangerous to keep around."
"Let us go, you asshole!" Gilbert yelled, shielding Matthew from the circle of cloaked men. "We haven't done anything to you! It's been hundreds of years since we last hurt an innocent human! We only hurt the ones who deserve it!"
The leader ignored him. Pointing to the group, he simply said, "Seize them."
The men jumped on the group, grabbing all they could, but the Italians managed to squirm free and dart around, biting down where they could.
"The wolves! Get the wolves!"
"Hold on!" Arthur ordered, then quickly began to chant a transport spell. But, due to his stress, only the gold rings started to appear around the two wolves.
Feliciano yelped in fright and attempted to jump towards Ludwig. However, a barrier was around the gold ring and he hit it and fell back, whining and whimpering.
The leader pointed to the rings and called out a spell.
Under the wolves, twisting black and purple vortexes appeared. The twins had time to scream only once, before they fell down, down, down into the dark abyss. The last thing they heard before the vortex closed over them were their lovers screaming their names.