Hetalia – Of Magic and Might

Chapter 20! Thank you to everyone who have left reviews and following this story! Welcome new followers, I'm so happy that you are enjoying my story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Without delay, there's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

Whale-Tail Island, the Resistance Headquarters, Outside General Ludwig's Office

Alfred Jones glanced up at the wall-clock in impatience. He and Kiku had been waiting outside Ludwig's office for more than half an hour to give their report. When the air ship had touched down, Alfred had radioed base for a couple of men to be sent and pick up Dodger, Skipper and Hyde. He was sure that Ludwig wouldn't mind, putting criminals away fell under his sense of justice after all. Kiku stood beside Alfred flicking through the newly developed pictures of The Winter Palace. Alfred must say that he was highly impressed by Kiku's photography skills. The shots of the palace were, while perhaps unintentional, dramatic. Maybe if Ludwig didn't want them after they presented the report, Alfred could keep them and hang them up in his room.

It was a loud limping sound that interrupted Alfred's rambling train of thought. Looking towards the noise Alfred saw his brother Matthew approaching with a beaten and battered Gilbert. Gilbert was leaning heavily against Matthew, dragging his leg behind him. Parts of his face were swollen red and strangely, bits of twigs and leaves were stuck at odd angles in his muddy white hair. Alfred sniggered and cracked his knuckles, he was going to enjoy this.

"Yo Gil! Tell me, which one of you was more hurt? You or the tree?" Alfred yelled as Gilbert and Matthew drew nearer, Matthew unusually didn't laugh at Alfred's poor joke.

"Hello Alfred, unfortunately this isn't funny. Two intruders were found on the premise" Matthew replied seriously ,shifting Gilbert's weight slightly. Alfred felt his light-hearted mood leave him, if they had been discovered…

"Spies?" Alfred asked worriedly as he began to walk alongside them, Kiku waving to him to tell him he didn't mind giving the report alone.

"We think so, one of them is in custody below. Gilbert wants to have a 'chat' with him" Matthew explained as they walked down a set of stairs down to the basement layer. The stone walls were cold and there was a constant dripping noise echoing throughout the chilling corridors. The basement was mainly used for the holding cells and for the document warehouse. Turning left at a split corridor Alfred, Matthew and Gilbert arrived at the holding cells. Five cells side by side were built into the wall, thick iron bars caging its captives. The corridor was dimly lit and with nothing for comfort and warmth, it was horribly damp and derelict.

Alfred stopped beside cell number one, letting Gilbert and Matthew walk past him and halt in front of holding cell number three. Straightening himself up Gilbert with Matthew by his side walked in front of still cell.

"Not so high and mighty now are you?" Gilbert taunted leaning against the bars as smoothly as he could, wincing slightly. The occupant of the cell didn't answer leading to Matthew joining Gilbert closer by the cell.

"You don't have to make this harder for yourself. Tell us how you discovered our location, who knows you were here. And finally, how are you able to use magic?" Matthew finished, not noticing his distant shell-shocked brother.

"No, no way" Alfred whispered in dread as he pushed past Matthew and Gilbert and stared into the cell. Inside the cobblestone cell, a thin limp figure hung off thick chains anchored to the walls. The figure wore a crumpled white shirt and simple pants, their blonde head was bowed as they lay unconscious. "Arthur?" Alfred gasped, pushed the barred door open and rushed to Arthur's side. "Why is he in here?" Alfred near growled as he lifted Arthur's chin to examine his bruised face.

Outside the cell Matthew and Gilbert exchanged a concerned look before looking back to Alfred, who was checking Arthur for wounds.

"He's in here Alfred, because he and his partner were caught on our territory" Matthew calmly explained.

"Also he took out two of my men and used some kind of witchcraft to throw me into a tree" Gilbert added gruffly, clearly not pleased Alfred knew Arthur and appeared to care about him. It would make it more difficult to get pay back later.

Alfred stood up and rubbed the neck of his neck in stress. "So you have Francis and you saw Arthur use magic huh. I don't suppose you've already told Ludwig have you?"

"Alfred, you might know these men. But that doesn't change the fact that he and this 'Francis' intruded and discovered our base. Not to mention he can use magic! Sorcerers were thought to be extinct, Alfred. Ludwig has to know about this, imagine the possibilities if we had a sorcerer fighting for us! It's be so freakin awesome!" Gilbert logically argued crossing his arms and eyeing Arthur as if he was about to pounce on him. Alfred looked back to Arthur and clenched his fist. He was not leaving him here alone.

"At least let me move him, bound unbound I don't care. I don't want my friend to wake up scared and alone, not when I could of done something about it" Alfred stated and looked over to his brother. "Can you let me do that?"

Matthew meet Alfred's determined graze and sighed in defeat. When Alfred was like this, there was nothing anyone could say to change his mind. He could be so frustratingly stubborn, just like father had been. "Fine, but the chains stay on. I've seen what he can do if left free" Matthew compromised as he reached for the key to Arthur's chains, tossing it to Alfred. As Alfred unlocked the last chain, Arthur slumped forward and would of fallen forward if Alfred had not caught him. Hitching Arthur onto his back piggyback style, Alfred exited the cell past Matthew and Gilbert. Gilbert casually waving a pair of hand cuffs as Alfred crossed him to go up the set of stairs.

Emerging from the dank basement layer Alfred, accompanied by Arthur's escorts, travelled to his and Matthew's private room. Like all special agents, Matthew and Alfred were permitted their own private bed chambers away from the regular recruits. After turning left upon travelling up yet another fleet to stairs, Alfred pushed open the door of his lodgings and entered his and Matthew's room. In size wise, the room was fairly decent. Two beds stood at opposite poles of the room and the room was divided by a thin clothes line, on which various articles of clothing hung. The floorboards were made of birch wood and muted red, white and blue wallpaper decorated the walls. On Matthew's side of the room, a small desk was pushed against the wall that had a shiny new typewriter on top. Pinned above his bed were newspaper clippings and scarps of information concerning their parent's death, 'an unfortunate and untimely accident' the papers had read. Over on Alfred's side of the room, the door of the boy's bathroom stood at the end of Alfred's single bed. Placed beside the bathroom door was Alfred's chest of personal possessions, small trinkets and souvenirs that Alfred had collected over the years while in service. His customised bomber jacket had been casually tossed over it.

Alfred walked into his room and over to his bed pulling the covers back before, as gently as he could, laying Arthur down. Gilbert coughed suggestively and chucked the handcuffs to Alfred. Alfred threw a glare at Gilbert and reluctantly cuffed Arthur's hands in front of him. Standing up Alfred turned and walked over to the desk, picking up it's chair and setting it down at the end of his bed.

"I'm staying here until he wakes up" Alfred stated simply sitting with his back to Matthew and Gilbert. Matthew placed his hand on Gilbert's shoulder.

"Gilbert, there's no point in you waiting here until he wakes. Would you go and inform Ludwig that the second prisoner is under my supervision? We'll begin the interrogations when he wakes up" Gilbert gave a disgruntled murmur in response and left the room, slamming the door as he went. Matthew inwardly sighed again and looked over to his brother. He didn't understand how or why Alfred was being so protective of this stranger. He should be putting duty first and not blatantly ignoring the rules. If Alfred continued like this he could risk losing his position that he had worked so hard for.

"Are you going to tell me how you know this guy?" Matthew asked as he walked over to stand by Alfred's shoulder, observing the sleeping Brit.

"Kiku and I met him in the Capital, Kiku got sick and Arthur was kind enough to give us a place to stay as he recovered. He didn't know us, we were complete strangers and he still took us in. I'm so used to people in the Capital turning their nose up to outsiders, his generosity was… refreshing. Gives you hope, you know?" Alfred spoke softly running his hand thorough his ruffled sandy blonde hair. "How did you see Arthur use magic?"

"I was lagging behind Gilbert's group when I heard fighting. When I arrived I saw him drawing the wind to him or something, then he ran at Gil and sent him flying. Literally. I've… I've never seen anything like it Alfred…" Matthew replied with conflicted emotions. "When I saw it happen, all I could think was 'No one man should have that much power'. Alfred?," Alfred turned and raised a questioning eyebrow to his brother.

"Gilbert was right you know. If Ludwig used him, if we had power like that on our side. We could win this war" Alfred turned away and returned to watching over Arthur.

"He's a human being Matt. He's not some weapon to wave at the enemy. I won't let him be forced into something he doesn't want" Alfred finally answered as a minutes pause.

"Then you would condemn all of us in the process? I'm sorry Alfred, but I don't think Ludwig is going to put your best interests before the lives of his family" Matthew finished gently patting Alfred on the back. "I left my papers in the offices, I'll be back in a minute. Don't move". Part of Matthew felt awful for being so harsh on Alfred just after they had reunited. His brother was a good agent, but he could be reckless and not think his actions through. Leaving Matthew to be the responsible twin. Usually he and Alfred got on swimmingly, although the introduction of this Arthur complicated matters. Mulling over his thoughts Matthew reached the bedroom door and walked through.

As Matthew closed the door, Alfred thought over his brother's words. Grimly Alfred knew that Matthew was right. Ludwig wouldn't care what Alfred thought. If he saw the chance to gain an advantage over Ivan, he would seize it ruthlessly. Alfred hoped for both his sake and Arthur's, that Arthur would join the Resistance willingly. It was Arthur's soft whispering that brought Alfred back to the room. Arthur had began shifting minimally in his sleep and muttering under his breath.

"Al…" Arthur breathed softly. Alfred paused and daren't believe what he had heard. Had Arthur just said his name? His name?. He vaguely remembered Francis mentioning something about Arthur sleep talking. With growing excitement Alfred leaned closer and listened intently for more.

"Al…Al. Al-listor" Arthur continued, his brows drawing together a fraction. Alfred sat back surprised. He didn't know what he was expecting to be honest, not sure why he even was a little disappointed. A sob resounded from Arthur as tears began to gather in the corners of his eyes. The sobs began to grow rasher and more rapid. Alfred jumped to his feet and leant beside Arthur, lightly shaking him in an attempt to wake him.

"Arthur! Arthur you need to wake up" Alfred hissed as he attempted to shake Arthur from his night terror. Arthur was now full on thrashing and his gathered tears spilled, leaving watery trails down the sides of his face.

Alfred cursed as Arthur nearly head-butted him, he needed a different method of restricting Arthur's movements. Instead of holding Arthur down from above. He shuffled Arthur so he could lay beside him, arms wrapped around Arthur, holding him close to his chest. Arthur's head rested against his shoulder, his tears soaking into Alfred's shirt. Being held seemed to have a calming effect on Arthur, his thrashing ceased and his sobs slowly became quieter. Alfred moved his arm up so his hand rested on Arthur's mop of golden blonde hair, slowly reassuring him as he held him while making soft shushing noises.

Alfred simply lay there there, holding Arthur. He didn't voice any secret words, he didn't wonder aloud. He simply lay there. Holding his friend to ward him away from the terrors that haunted Arthur's subconscious.

Awwwww how charming :3 Interesting chapter this one was to write. It was rewritten quite a few times and whole paragraphs were edited or taken out. So we have alittle sweet moment with Arthur and Alfred, in this situation you can think of it as romantically as you want to. I wrote it in a way that you could see it as platonic friendship or budding love ,you decide really :)

Some people may think that I'm making Matthew and Gilbert meaner then they actually are. However you have to think about their situation. Gilbert just got beat up by Arthur so of course he's not going to be friendly towards him, and Matthew sees them as spies so he's going to be angry as well around Arthur and Francis. I can guarantee that everyone will warm up to each other later though.

Matthew and Alfred's conversation about Ludwig, Ivan and Arthur. Hmmm, foreshadowing? This theme will be continued to play throughout this story as the war begins to pick up, the constant question of whether you sacrifice your family and morales to win. Although in the end, you may of lost something more valuable... *evil wink*

Small note on Arthur's nightmares, he has been having them ever since he lost his brothers. Usually he would take a potion that gives him a dreamless sleep. As you can see they can be rather distressing. Alfred and Matthew's room was fun to write as well, imagining it all clustered on Alfred's side while on Matthew's its neater and more organised. Matthew is actually quite intelligent and mentions of the newspaper clippings are important later on.

Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you are enjoying this story so far! I really enjoy writing this and love it even more when you give your feedback. If you enjoy in this story, please leave a review to tell me how I'm doing and what your opinions are and if you want to keep up to date with this story please follow for upcoming chapters! Thank you again for reading!

Untill next time folks!