Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 16

"What do you want with me?" Mathias asked. "Because I'm not going to help you get Lukas!"

"Even after the way he treated you?" Bella asked. "You just gave him a friendly greeting, and he punched you. Clearly, he doesn't care about you as much as you care for him."

"He was on edge because one of your friends attacked him," Mathias hissed. "It's completely normal."

"The reaction, or that he hit you? Because it seems to happen a lot. You know, Tino told me about you. He said that your friends have little patience for you, and they only tolerate you because of your skill on a boat."

"Y-you're lying." Mathias stepped back, though there wasn't much space for him. "They appreciate me! They care for me!"

"Do they? Because, I'm going to tell you now, your friends see you as nothing more than a braggart and a fool. You shirked your responsibilities to flirt with a girl. That is what they're all thinking now. Do you have any idea how many of them saw you leaving with me?"

"That's not…" Mathias's back collided with the wall, and he sank to his knees. "You're wrong. They don't… think that of me. I'm…"

"Tell me, who are you trying to convince? You, or me?"

Mathias shook his head. He knew that he shouldn't listen to her. She was a liar. She was only trying to get to Lukas. And if she succeeded, then she would kill him, and everyone else.

"You're wrong, you know," Bella said. She smiled sweetly as she stepped closer. "We've been looking for new followers. Our master is very generous. He will rid you of all your flaws. And you get to spend a lot of time with Tino again."

"Why would I want that?" Mathias demanded. It disturbed him that she seemed to know what he was thinking. "The last time we met, Tino threatened to rip my tongue out. Not to mention, he called me the worst part of his lie."

"But that could change. After all, you'd be on the same side, and all of your flaws will be erased. It would be easy, starting a new life with someone you know. And you can do whatever you want with the friends who consider you to be a fool." Bella's smile widened. "What do you say?"

Mathias pursed his lips.

"What's going to happen to me if I say 'no'?" he asked.

"Why would you say 'no'?" Bella asked. "Oh, right, because I didn't tell you what the other advantages are. First of all, how old do you think I am?"

Mathias shook his head. He knew from experience that when a woman asked what he thought her age was, it would be better not to answer.

"Tell me, would you believe me when I say that I'm more than seven hundred years old?" she asked.

He couldn't help it. His jaw dropped. Bella giggled when she saw the reaction.

"And Tino is even older," she said. "Do you see? If you join our master, you will never die. Unless, of course, the master decides that you are no longer worthy of his gifts. And great magical power. Ordinary sorcerers can train for years without achieving their full potential."

"And what do you do with that power?" Mathias asked. "Whatever your master wants you to do? Sounds pretty short-sighted, if you ask me."

"We have made empires rise and fall. We have chosen and usurped kings. We have drawn the borders between nations. How many humans do you think can do something like that?"

Mathias pursed his lips. He couldn't imagine having power like that. He remembered when he was younger, and he thought that he was the long-lost son of some powerful lord, or the time when he'd dreamed that he would become a corsair, or a general in the navy. He'd always wanted to be more than just a fisherman. And here, he had an offer to become something great.

"Why me?" he asked. "Why do you want someone like me?"

"Why not?" Bella asked. "I see potential for power in you. What do you say?"

Mathias was silent for a moment as he mulled things over. Immortality, power… it sounded nice. However…

"I'm not going to betray my friends," Mathias said. "And I'm not going to help you get Lukas, Arthur or Vlad."

"So, this is him?" Arthur asked, looking at the bound male.

"That's right," Lukas said. "I saw him in my visions."

"Ah, the Ocean Soul must remember us," he said.

Lukas tensed. Alistair narrowed his eyes.

"The way you're talking, it's like the jewels are alive," Alistair said.

"Oh, but they are," he said. "They remain with my master until they are completely drained of power, then they need to return to their general areas to recharge."

"And every time, new sorcerers are chosen to find them. Am I right?"

The bound man only smiled. Lukas winced, clutching his head. Arthur and Vlad looked over towards him, while the others focused on the bound man.

"Henri," Lukas whispered. "That's your name, isn't it?"

"I'm curious to know what else you know," Henri said, grinning.

"Where is Mathias?" Berwald asked.

"I don't know."

"Liar," Lukas spat.

"Believe it or not, I'm not lying. I don't know where he is. I can tell you with whom he is. My sister, when she wants some privacy with someone, creates a space that is unreachable by all others."

"In other words, it's not a place that can be found in the realm of space," Dylan said. "That's why you don't know where they are. Because where is not the right way to look at it, am I right?"

"Pretty much. You're going to have to make peace with the fact that you're not seeing your friend until Bella is finished with him. And for that to happen, he'd either be dead or one of us."

Lukas shuddered. He felt a warm hand on his arm, and turned to see Vlad, smiling at him reassuringly.

"Mathias wouldn't," Emil said.

"Are you sure about it?" Henri asked. "You weren't able to sense the hurt he felt when Lukas rejected his welcoming hug. And do you think that a feeble excuse is going to fix it? And what about all the other times? You've been treating him like a fool for years. Do you honestly think that it wouldn't bother him?"

Lukas's knees buckled, and he clung to Vlad's arm to prevent him from dropping to the ground. Henri was right. They hadn't been the kindest towards Mathias, and Lukas had definitely been contemptuous towards him. The next time he saw his friend, Mathias would either be an enemy or dead. He didn't know which was worse.

"There is a way to save Mathias," Henri said. His smile told Lukas that he wouldn't like the words that he would speak. "Lukas, if you surrender yourself to us, then Mathias…"

"No!" Vlad snapped, stepping in front of Lukas. "He's not going to surrender himself! None of us are!"

"Vlad…" Arthur started.

"No! I-I don't… We can't let them take us! Any of us! Because if we do, then… What's going to happen? They're going to…"

Vlad was trembling. Lukas watched him for a moment before he nodded his head.

"You're right," Lukas said. "We can't risk the rest of the world."

"But you're willing to risk the fate of your friend?" Henri asked, arching his eyebrow. He looked at the rest of them. "And what about the others?"

"I don't know about them," Dylan said, stepping closer, "but I definitely wouldn't ask my brother to sacrifice himself for my sake, especially if it means endangering everyone else. And there's no telling what you and your master will be doing to my brother and his friends, so forget it."

Henri's amusement disappeared, and he glared at Dylan.

"You're quite noble, aren't you?" Henri spat. "And the worst part is, you're not lying. I hate people like you."

"Now, tell us how we can get Mathias back," Alistair said. "And if you don't cooperate, we're going to make things very unpleasant for you."

Henri snorted.

"I am over seven hundred years old," Henri said. "Do you really think you can do something that I've never experienced before?"

Lukas narrowed his eyes. Henri had returned to his smug attitude. The only time it disappeared was when he spat at Dylan. While he believed him when he implied that he had suffered through various types of tortures, Lukas suspected that Dylan had managed to hit a sore spot.

His thoughts were interrupted when Vlad turned around and stormed out. He and Arthur exchanged a look before Lukas followed after Vlad. Arthur remained, probably in order to find a way to interrogate Henri.

Vlad was outside, trembling with his arms wrapped around him. Lukas looked over towards the west. The sun was setting. Had so much time really passed? He chased those thoughts away as he approached Vlad.

"What's bothering you?" Lukas asked.

"I… I'm sorry," Vlad said. He sniffed, and Lukas realised that he was crying. "I know, you're worried about your friend, but… The idea of you sacrificing yourself for him… It's wrong. I don't want that to happen."

"…You weren't really worried about the rest of the world, were you?"

Vlad gave a bitter laugh.

"I don't care about the rest of the world," Vlad said. "They abandoned me to be a slave. But, you and Arthur…" Vlad took a shaky breath. "You freed me. I've done more in the last week with you than I've done in ten years. I've seen more. And, yes, it's dangerous, but I'm not living in a constant state of fear, like I did back at my mas… my former master's place. I'm scared, because what are they going to do to you two? I don't… I don't want to think about…"

Lukas didn't know why he did it. Most likely, it was because he couldn't bear to see Vlad like that. Before he really understood what he was doing, he was kissing Vlad.

Vlad's lips were a bit dry, and the salt from his tears intruded upon Lukas's nose. But Vlad also tasted sweet, forming a strange contrast.

It took Lukas a few seconds before he realised what he was doing, and he jerked backwards. Vlad stared at him with large eyes, and Lukas didn't know whether it was fear or surprise in those red depths.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lukas stammered. "I-I d-don't know what came over me. I…" He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Y-you were taken advantage of when you were a slave, and…"

"It's okay," Vlad whispered. He looked around, before settling on staring at Lukas's shoes. "And, for the record… I've been touched, but I haven't been touched. No one ever took it too far."

Lukas felt his face grow hot when he realised what Vlad was implying.

"That's not… the only way to…" he stammered. "What I meant is, p-people have been treating you as less than human for years, doing whatever they wanted with you. Those scars… How many of them had been out of pure sadism?"

"A few," Vlad admitted.

"I-I just… I don't want you to feel…" Lukas cleared his throat. "I am not your master. I am your friend. If I do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, just tell me, alright?"

Vlad nodded. Lukas turned around when he heard two sets of footsteps. He hoped that no one witnessed his blunder with Vlad. Soon enough, Patrick and Arthur came into view.

"We need to get you three back to the inn," Patrick said. "You need to leave as soon as possible."

"But…" Lukas started.

"We'll do everything we can to get Mathias back. But as long as the three of you are here, you're in danger. I get the feeling that that guy, Henri, is stalling us. Do you have enough supplies?"

"We haven't gotten around to buying anything yet," Arthur said.

"Then let's get to it immediately. I'm coming with you to make sure you stay safe."

"What about the others?" Vlad asked.

"They're going to stall Henri. We discussed this through telepathy, since we don't want him to realise what we're doing until you're long gone."

"If he knows what we're doing, then there's a chance that he might stop stalling," Arthur explained. "And then everyone, including us, would be in even more danger."

Lukas bit his lip before he nodded. As much as he hated the idea of abandoning his friend, he knew that they couldn't risk for him, Arthur or Vlad to be captured by Lars and his siblings. So, reluctantly, he nodded his head.

"What about the information you found?" Vlad asked.

"There's not really much," Patrick explained. "There's just this legend of a prisoner that remained in shackles for three hundred years. It's probably one of them. And I guess we managed to make sense of the cycle thing."

Lukas nodded. He should have known that it would be too good to be true if they'd managed to get helpful information. Well, they could still probably get some information out of Henri, but if he was to be believed, it would not be an easy task.

"Are you telling me that you refuse?" Bella asked, her voice rising in pitch.

"Yeah," Mathias said. "Despite what you think, I'm no fool. Whatever you're going to do with them, it can't be good, and I refuse to be a part of it."

Bella shrieked in anger, before she silenced herself. She started to laugh, as Mathias's eyes started to search for an escape route.

"Well then, if you won't turn on your friend," Bella said, "then I can think of a way to hurt him. But before I kill you, I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

Mathias's eyes widened as Bella told him the one thing that could change everything regarding Lukas's quest. But as Bella moved closer, he realised that there would be no way for him to tell Lukas. There was no door, no window, and no escape.

"Well, you certainly picked a nice-looking inn," Patrick said as he heaved the package he carried. "Is it nice on the inside too?"

"It was," Arthur said. "Let's hope it still is."

It wasn't. As soon as they entered, the scent of blood assaulted their senses. Arthur gagged as he followed after the others. Soon enough, the reason for the scent became clear. Bodies littered the interior, and Arthur stared at all of them. These were the people that had tried to help them. They were all dead because of them.

"This is horrible," Arthur whispered.

"And now we know that they're not playing around," Patrick said. "Makes me wonder what they'd be capable of if they get the jewels."

Arthur noticed the use of the word 'if'. Patrick was confident that they would be able to escape, but there was still the underlying possibility that they would fail. It would be their job to make sure that they didn't.

"Where do you think Lars went?" Vlad whispered.

"I don't know," Lukas said. "But hopefully, he decided to seek us out. That would make things easier for us."

It would certainly be better than the alternative, where Lars would be waiting for the three of them at the inn. Would he still try to coerce them into going with him, or would he not go with that route this time? Considering the fact that it continued to fail, Arthur dreaded the possibility that Lars would forego that method this time.

Their room wasn't locked, since they had stormed out earlier. Lukas opened the door and immediately reeled back. His hands were on his mouth, and Arthur had never seen Lukas look like that.

"What's wrong?" Patrick asked, pushing his way inside the room. "Oh no…"

Vlad grabbed Lukas's shoulders and was trying to get a response out of him. Arthur pushed his way beside his brother to see what he saw.

"Bloody hell…" Arthur whispered.

On one of the beds – Lukas's bed, to be exact – lay the body of a tall man with blond hair. His face was turned towards them, leaving no doubt about his identity. Arthur turned to regard Lukas.

"It's my fault," Lukas muttered. "If I didn't… We shouldn't have come back to the inn. We should have left immediately after meeting up with them. If we did, then, maybe…"

"You don't know that," Vlad said. "For all we know, they might have been waiting for us. They could have still gone after Mathias and the others."

"He's right," Patrick said. "Don't blame yourself for any of this."

"Patrick, can you make sure that he gets a proper burial?" Arthur whispered. "We need to go now, before they come back."

Patrick nodded, and Arthur moved towards Lukas. He hugged Lukas and Vlad joined the hug. Lukas sobbed as the first tears came. Arthur didn't know what to say to Lukas now, and Vlad was equally at a loss for words. For now, they could only offer their support.

"Now, isn't this sweet?"

The three of them froze when they heard that voice. Arthur had just started to move away from the other two when they were tied together. Arthur grunted as he felt a burning pain, and he looked down at the magical rope around the three of them, before looking up to see Lars and a woman that resembled him and Henri.

"Nice job, Bella," Lars said, stepping closer. "Now then, as much as this method is problematic, it's time for you three to meet our master."

Arthur remembered that they needed to go with them willingly, for some reason. But it wouldn't work this time. Unless…

"Get away from them!"

Patrick came into view. Arthur's stomach dropped when he saw the two siblings smirking.

"Perhaps we can still turn this around," Bella said.