Main Pairing: USUK

Rated T. Cardverse and Omegaverse.

I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

I am sooo sorry this thing is really short. But the next chapter might be longer than usual...

Biff3r: you are kind of starting to scare me... ;P

Arthur was sitting at the long table in the mess hall. Alfred was next to him, Kiku, Feliciano, and Yao across from him. Matthew was still in his room. The five were enjoying the meal. Nothing else had happened overnight, no other attacks had taken place. Alfred was teaching Feliciano how to eat a hamburger. Feliciano said that he preferred food from his Grandpa Roma.

Feliciano was getting a cough. And he was getting quieter. And Arthur was getting worried.

Everything happened very quickly. They heard shouts from the hallway, the sound of drawn swords, fighting. Alfred stood immediately and drew the sword that was now always at his side. Kiku stood as well, revealing two twin daggers that were hidden in the folds of his clothes. Feliciano was pale. Yao was trying to help. Arthur forced him to sit down and drew his own short sword.

The doors burst open and Ivan Braginsky himself strode in, blood dripping from his sword and his innocent eyes bright. Francis trailed behind him.

"Francis!" Arthur found himself shouting. "What the hell are you doing?"

Francis didn't respond. He barely even looked at any of them. He seemed to be searching the room. He looked a mix between relieved and stressed (a hard feat).

"Hello," Ivan said simply. "I've come at last. Your guards are strong, da?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

Yao stood with a strangled gasp. Arthur ignored him, counting on Kiku and Alfred to protect the two omegas. Feliciano was shaking, terrified. Arthur grimaced, fighting past the overwhelming aura of masculinity and power radiating off of Ivan. He stepped forward slowly.

"How did you manage to get up here without leaving the ships?" Arthur asked.

Ivan laughed. "It was quite simple, really. We kept your attention on your main port and sailed around to the back of the country. It took a little longer for us to get there, and we had to travel overland to get to the castle, but I think it was worth it, da?

"Now," he continued. "Let's get down to business. Francis, you take care of the lovely Queen. I will take those two."

Arthur had a moment before Francis approached him. He watched Ivan. He went for Alfred first, getting him out of the way first with a sharp kick to the gut that winded him terribly. Then Ivan went full force on Kiku.

Arthur turned back just as Francis's silver blade came blurring down on him. He raised his blade to block, nearly falling backwards. He ducked under and behind Francis and kicked him in the back, sending him stumbling forward.

"Why, Francis?" he asked. "You bloody frog - why are you fighting by the side of a madman?"

Francis answered with another attack. "He is not mad," Francis panted. "But it is not like I have much of a choice."

"Of course you have a choice!" Arthur screamed with effort, shoving Francis back and going after him again.

"He is threatening my people if I do not cooperate!" Francis yelled back. "I will not have the entirety of Diamonds wiped out!"

"But you will let him destroy Hearts? And Spades?" Arthur countered, dodging another strike. He got the first blood, slashing Francis's shoulder.

Francis stepped back unsteadily, holding his shoulder. "He doesn't want to take over Spades. Or Hearts. He only wants one person."

Arthur whipped back to look at the others. Feliciano was helping Alfred, who was lying dazed on the floor. Kiku was avoiding each of Ivan's furious strikes. As Ivan turned, Kiku circling him to keep him from locking on a target, his eyes were filled with a terrifying passion.

Arthur felt the tip of a cold blade on his back, and Francis's forearm encircled his throat. "Do not move. If you do, this blade will go through your back."

"Francis," Arthur whispered. "Please..."

"Just let him die," Francis whispered in his ear. "It will all be over quicker if you do not interfere..."

"No!" Arthur screamed, throwing his elbow back and connecting. Francis jerked back from the impact. Arthur turned, grabbed his blade and twisted it around - wincing as it cut through his palms. He twisted it out of Francis's grip.

"I will not let my friend die," Arthur said bitterly.

He turned back to the others just as Ivan stuck his sword through Kiku's shoulder.

Arthur screamed. He tackled Ivan and rolled on top of him, getting him away so that Feliciano could help his Queen. Ivan grabbed Arthur's shoulders and rolled him over so that Ivan was on top of him. He pulled a small dagger from his sleeve and grinned.

"It looks like two Queens will die today," he said.

"No," another voice said. Alfred lifted Ivan off of Arthur - displaying for the first time the full capabilities of his strength. "You aren't killing my Queen," Alfred said, a horrible look on his face. Arthur watched as Alfred slammed Ivan on to the ground, pulling back his sword to strike.

"I'm going to kill you."

"NOOO!" a terrible cry rang out through the hall. And Yao, of all people, shoved at Alfred's shoulder, trying to get him away from Ivan. It worked, temporarily. Arthur's jaw hung in shock.

Yao, a traitor?

"Do not kill him!" Yao pleaded. "Please, I beg you, do not kill him!"

Alfred stared, dumbfounded. "Yao?"

"Please," he said, placing a hand on Alfred's blade, slowly pushing it down. "Do not," he said, a tear slipping down his face.

"Yao, what is going on?" Arthur said, his voice hard. He got up and brushed himself off.

"You cannot kill him," he said. He didn't take his eyes off of Alfred. Ivan didn't take his eyes off of Yao. They were blatantly intense.

"Wait..." Arthur said. "Wait..."

Alfred's eyes hardened. "Move aside, Yao, or I'll kill you too."

"Alfred, no!" Arthur cried.

"Either way I will die!" Yao shouted. "Is that what you want? Either way we both die! So just put me out of my misery now!"

"Huh?" Alfred asked. He didn't get it.

"Alfred, lower your sword," Arthur commanded.

"Now you too?" Alfred asked. "What is going on?"

"They have mated." Arthur said. "If you kill Ivan, Yao will die."

And though he said the words, something was off... Why hadn't Yao's scent changed if they had mated? Perhaps it had, but not strongly, and Arthur simply had not noticed, caught up in everything...

Alfred looked back and forth between the two. "You..."

Yao nodded slowly.

"Yao -" Ivan said.

"Do not speak to me!" Yao exploded. "I am saving your life, not forgiving you for trying to kill my friends! For probably killing some of my friends who were guards! For starting a war for no reason!"

"But I had a reason," Ivan said, surprised.

"Really? What was it then?" Yao asked, a bitter look on his face.

Ivan looked around at everyone for a moment before he answered. "I thought it was obvious," he said, seemingly confused.

"Yes, well it is not obvious to us," Arthur said curtly. "So explain. Why did you attack Diamonds?"

Ivan blinked. "I needed them. To take on Hearts."

"You needed them, specifically?"

"Da. I did not want to attack Spades."

"Why in the bloody eff not?"

"Because he is here," Ivan said, nodding at Yao. "I did not want to cause him pain."

"Wait - why did you want to attack Hearts?" Feliciano asked, approaching Ivan. As soon as Ivan fixed his eyes on Feliciano, he squeaked and jumped back.

"He is at the heart of the country," Ivan said. "Kiku. I would not have been able to get to him without more strength. But when I discovered that he had been relocated to Spades, I had no choice but to come here. I took the path of least damage and came here myself to finish him off."

"What do you have against me?" Kiku asked quietly.

"You bonded with Yao," he said.

"What?" Yao gasped. "I bonded with you!"

Ivan looked at him. "I did not know that."

"What?"

"You slipped away for a while. When I found you again, you were with him, and both of your scents had changed from before. You both had developed the scent of a mental bond."

Everyone looked at Yao and Kiku. Kiku spoke first. "That was the day I connected with Heracles for the first time," he said. Yao was slightly red faced when he said, "I bonded with Ivan that day."

"So it was all a huge coincidence?" Alfred asked, unbelieving.

Ivan seemed to be in shock. He was dazed. The reality of it all must finally have caught up to him.

"So you started a bloody war because you were jealous that someone else bonded with the guy you liked, and then it turned out that that didn't even happen?" Arthur summed up. "That is insane."

The side door opened and Matthew slipped in, talking as he entered. "They said that Ivan broke in, I came as fast as I -"

He broke off when he saw the scene. But when his eyes landed on Francis, his whole face changed. Francis moved towards him immediately. Matthew took a few steps forwards as well, but more slowly. As soon as Francis got to him, he kissed Matthew deeply, his fingers tangling in Matthew's hair.

"No," Arthur said loudly. "You bonded with Matthew?"

"Woah, woah, woah," Alfred shouted. "Step back from the brother."

Francis broke apart from Matthew, leaving the poor omega completely dazed and flushed. "Why else do you think I was so urgent to get him out of Diamonds? Ivan held me prisoner by threatening to kill Mathieu. He has spies here."

"Francis -" Matthew said.

"I am sorry, mon coeur, I did not mean to leave you," Francis said.

"There is so much going on right now," Alfred said wistfully. "I just wanted lunch."

He walked over to Francis, picked him up, and tiredly carried him a few feet away. "You will stay at least this far from my brother at all times, thank you," he said. "Ivan can go to the dungeons. And I'm going to go finish my hamburger. In peace."

Arthur nearly laughed.

Ivan was placed in a cell. But when Arthur woke the next morning, he was gone. He didn't try anything else. He kept peace. Yao went over to stay for a week every month. Cards went back to normal. Matthew stayed with Francis in Diamonds, but he and Alfred wrote letters constantly and saw each other often.

A month after that strange day when all of the truth came out, Arthur went to Alfred with one specific thought on his mind.

"You need to go home," Arthur said.

"What?" Alfred said.

"The war is over. I know you miss it. I know you've talked to Matthew." he said. If he didn't think about it too much, it didn't hurt.

"I didn't think you wanted me to leave." He sounded hurt. Arthur bit his lip.

"Alfred, if you want me to make this harder on myself, I won't. I know you're going to leave whether I beg you to stay or not. So I won't throw myself down at your feet."

"I wasn't..."

"Alfred. Just don't." He couldn't think of anything else to say. So he turned away.

Arthur left to go find Yao. He was doing much better now that he saw Ivan on a regular basis.

"Yao?" Arthur asked, knocking at the open door. "Could you do something for me?"

Yao looked up from his desk. "Of course."

"Write a letter to Ivan. I need him or someone to search his castle for the door back to Alfred's world. Write to Francis as well."

"I will do that..." Yao said, reaching for a piece of parchment. "Right now."

"Thank you." Arthur said. He turned back and left. He walked down the hall a little ways, but after a minute, he sat against the wall with his head between his knees.

Kiku ended up being alright. The stab was fairly shallow and he had kept pressure on it for long enough. Feliciano was shaken but okay. But Arthur just felt scared. He didn't want to suffer. Especially not a slow and painful sickness. One that never went away.

When it all got to be too much, perhaps he'd just finish it himself.