Sorry it's a bit late.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 25

Lukas awoke with a head that ached and a throat that burned. He tried to dismiss the things he saw in his dreams as nothing more than yet another nightmare, but something told him that this was more. It was almost as though someone had tried to force something inside his head.

He looked around him, and only once he saw that Arthur and Vlad were still sleeping did he relax. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before he stood. He needed to clear his head a little.

Lukas looked around when he heard Arthur groan, and Arthur pushed himself into a seated position.

"Bloody hell," Arthur muttered. "If it's not you, it's Vlad. Why can't you two just sleep?"

"Sorry," Lukas whispered. "What's this about Vlad?"

"He was awake earlier. He was humming. Said it looked like you were having a nightmare."

Lukas's mind halted for a moment, before he turned towards Vlad. He was sleeping soundly, but the thought of Vlad singing to him because he was having a nightmare… Lukas's cheeks heated as he gave a soft smile. He moved over to stroke Vlad's hair, and the younger boy nuzzled towards the contact.

When he looked over towards Arthur again, he noticed that he had dozed off again. The sky was getting brighter, and Lukas didn't think that he would be able to fall asleep again. His mind kept returning to his dream. No, not a dream. Someone had deliberately tried to get to him through his mind. It wasn't Nemthys – the voice was different – but it wouldn't be unusual if Nemthys had some sort of connection to what he saw.

They had no idea how many followers Nemthys had. It could be a dozen, it could be a hundred, or it could be a thousand. Perhaps even more. Lukas shuddered at the thought of meeting all of them. They had only seen some of the things that they were capable of, and he didn't want to see any of the rest.

He settled down between Arthur and Vlad, where he would be able to see the sun steadily brightening the sky. He couldn't see the sun itself due to the trees. He normally enjoyed watching the sunrise and sunset. At his hometown, there was a hill where he could see the sun peeking through the distant mountains, and in the evenings, he could watch the sun set over the ocean. He wondered if he would be able to show Arthur and Vlad the scene. He didn't know if Arthur would have seen it before, but he definitely knew that Vlad wouldn't have seen it. He was curious to see those red eyes light up at the sight.

Lukas looked down when he heard a soft sound from Vlad, and he noticed that his face was scrunching in distress. Perhaps it was Vlad's turn to have a nightmare. Lukas couldn't hum – his singing voice was atrocious and he didn't want to give Vlad even worse nightmares – and so he continued to stroke Vlad's hair until he settled again. And then Arthur started whimpering.

If Lukas had any doubts about the idea that someone was deliberately attacking their dreams, they were gone now. It was too much of a coincidence for Lukas to have a nightmare, then Vlad had one, and then Arthur as well. Lukas wondered if waking the other two would help, but that wouldn't solve the true problem. They would need to find a way to stop whoever was attacking them, and they would need to do it before they slept the next night.

He sat like that for at least an hour before the first of his companions stirred. Arthur groaned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he forced himself to sit up.

"Morning," Arthur mumbled. "How long have you been awake?"

"About an hour or so," Lukas said. It didn't seem as though Arthur remembered speaking to him earlier. "I couldn't really sleep."

Arthur yawned, before fixing Lukas with an intense look. Lukas had to admit that Arthur's eyes really matched the green of the forest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Arthur asked.

"…I think someone is trying to attack us in our dreams," Lukas said.

Arthur frowned, pushing himself higher. It was clear that whatever sleep was left had gone, in favour of this curious concern.

"What makes you say that?" Arthur asked.

"First, I had a nightmare," Lukas said. "One that I can't get out of my head. And after waking up, I saw that Vlad was getting distressed. And when he managed to calm down, you started acting as though you were having a bad dream." Lukas turned to look fully at Arthur. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Arthur fidgeted, before he closed his eyes.

"I saw Dylan in my dream," he said. "He asked me why I didn't help him. Why I put him in that position in the first place. And then, there was a voice that kept whispering to me. It…"

Arthur bit his lip and shook his head. Lukas frowned and leaned forward.

"Arthur, what did this voice say?" Lukas asked.

"…I don't really want to talk about it," Arthur said.

"Arthur, I think someone is attacking our dreams. One reason why someone would do that is to make us insecure or doubt each other. So… why don't I go first, then?" Arthur looked up. "In my dream, you and Vlad were tied to stakes on opposite sides of… I think it was an arena or something, and I was in the middle. Someone told me that I can only save one, but I must choose. And then it asked me who do I think would have chosen me if the situation was reversed. If given the choice between me or Vlad, who would you choose? And if it's between the two of us, who would Vlad choose?"

"…Who did you end up choosing?"

"I couldn't. I can't choose between the two of you. I don't… I can't choose one, knowing that the other would be left behind or, in the case of my nightmare, be killed." Lukas took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I never want to be in a real situation like that."

Lukas jumped when he felt contact against his fingers, and he turned to look at Arthur, who was looking at him sadly.

"I hope none of us end up in a situation like that," Arthur said. "But we've been close before."

Lukas knew what Arthur was referring to. Just a few days ago – or perhaps it was closer to a week – Arthur and Vlad had been held by their enemies, and Lukas had to choose whether or not to escape or go with them. While it wasn't exactly choosing which one would live and which one would die, it was still a matter of an impossible choice.

"…In my dream," Arthur said, startling Lukas from his thoughts, "the voice told me that it's only a matter of time before I bring misfortune to everyone around me. It also said that… My brothers, who've been supportive of me all my life – though the way they've been supportive could have used a bit of work on occasion – will fade in the background while I put two strangers above them."

"Is that what we are to you?" Lukas asked. "Two strangers?"

"N-no! Of course not! It… It was the dream! You two are… You're…"

Arthur's face turned red, but now Lukas was curious. Exactly how did Arthur see the two of them?

"What's going on?" Vlad mumbled. Lukas and Arthur turned to see him yawning and opening his eyes. "Why are you so loud?"

"V-Vlad!" Arthur exclaimed. "S-sorry to wake you. D-did you sleep well?"

Lukas narrowed his eyes. Arthur knew that Vlad didn't sleep well because Lukas told him that he didn't. It was clearly a stall tactic. So then, what exactly was Arthur going to say? Was it something that Arthur didn't want to say to them? And if so, why?

Vlad didn't respond immediately, but then his eyes widened and he grinned.

"I've got some exciting news!" Vlad exclaimed.

Arthur and Lukas exchanged a look, unable to tell exactly where Vlad's 'exciting news' could have come from. Vlad went over towards a dead vine hanging from a nearby tree, and Lukas and Arthur watched as the vine not only came back to life, but also started to bloom.

"What just happened?" Arthur asked. "How did you…?"

"…Lucania came to me in my dream," Vlad said. "She was my family's patron god."

"Lucania?" Lukas repeated, his suspicions of Arthur momentarily forgotten. "Isn't she the goddess of luck?"

"Fat good it did in the past," Arthur said.

"Her excuse is that the more bad luck there is, the better the good luck will be, or something like that," Vlad said. "She said that she had suspicions, and so she let all my good luck build until she could confirm her suspicions."

"What suspicions?"

"Apparently, after I got… got kidnapped, she noticed an aura about me. She said that three other of her 'children' had the same aura, and all of them were targeted by Nemthys. So she allowed my luck to build until she could be sure."

"Wait," Lukas said. "The aura, and the fact that the others with the same aura were targeted… Does that mean that we have a similar aura or something? And could that be the reason why we were chosen?"

"Could be. She said that there are too many coincidences, and since a lot of luck is based on coincidence…"

"It's too suspicious," Arthur agreed.

"There's something else that's even more of a 'strange coincidence'," Vlad continued. "Apparently, when Nemthys woke up, that was the exact moment when I turned eighteen. Down to the last second."

"Hold on. I thought you said you were seventeen."

"He must have given a rough estimate," Lukas said. "I doubt he could celebrate his birthdays."

"Exactly," Vlad said.

"So, down to the last second…" Arthur said. "That's… You don't think…?"

"She said that, whenever Nemthys gets started, it's always when the youngest of three sorcerers turns eighteen. So it's definitely a trigger. But she admits that even though Nemthys has been using the jewels for thousands of years, no one knows their origins."

"Which means she must not think that Nemthys created the jewels," Lukas said.

"Exactly. Anyway, she also gave me all the magical knowledge that I should have had by now. Which means that I can finally be useful!"

"Vlad…" Arthur sighed. "Please, don't say it like that."

"You were never useless," Lukas agreed.

Vlad smiled softly.

"But now it's actually true," he said. "Oh yeah, she said that all that luck I've been building up, it's been releasing whenever we need to escape."

"I figured that's what's going on, as soon as you mentioned the goddess of luck," Arthur said. "It's very fortunate. So then, we just need to finish our quest before your luck runs out."

Vlad grimaced and nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "One more thing. Apparently, Nemthys's followers were busy. Towns have been destroyed, and cities have surrendered. They've also been trying to seal the gods. And they've had some success."

"What?" Lukas and Arthur exclaimed simultaneously, before sharing a look. Lukas knew what Arthur was thinking. He wanted to know about his own patron god, just as Lukas did.

"We need to find a temple or a shrine," Arthur said, before he rifled through their supplies.

"Their priority is going to be Lucania," Vlad said. "Since it's clear she's helping us, in her own way."

"And without the goddess of luck on our side," Lukas said, "we're most likely going to be captured, or worse. We need to finish this as soon as possible, before our luck runs out."

"There's a shrine about two days' travel away," Arthur said. "That is, if we stay on course. If we go towards the east, we should be there by nightfall, and to the south, it should be before lunch."

"We can't waste that time," Lukas said. "We're going to have to take our chances with the one in the north. Let's pack up and go as soon as possible."

Lukas had never really paid much attention to the goddess of luck, since she was one of the minor deities. But it was clear that at the moment, she would be the one whose help they needed the most. And if she was gone, then they would really be in danger.

Arthur's eyes scanned the path, before he looked behind him. They tended to avoid the established paths, since they wanted to avoid running into anyone, but with their quest becoming more urgent, they needed to take the route that would end up being faster. He just hoped that it wouldn't end up being the more dangerous option.

The three of them were quiet, and it was nice. It wasn't awkward or anything, like in the beginning. They had grown comfortable enough with each other that they could spend a lot of time within their own thoughts without worry.

Arthur didn't have a lot of friends growing up. There was one person, though she tragically died of an illness one winter. Arthur was used to being alone, and he had thought that being with companions would be dreadful, but he couldn't think of better companions than Lukas or Vlad. They made him feel safe and comfortable, and their personalities complemented each other well. He'd thought that they would argue a lot, but that had luckily not happened yet. They had a few discussions and debates, but nothing that had any anger or annoyance to lace their words.

Arthur was forced to withdraw from his thoughts when he heard something. It was the familiar sound of horses' hooves. He turned around, and he could just see a cart coming along the path.

"We have company," he said.

They started to move into the treeline, and Arthur hoped that the new arrivals didn't see them. It would certainly look suspicious if three young travellers chose to get off the path as soon as someone else approached.

Arthur's concerns were realised when the cart slowed down as it approached. And then he realised that it wasn't quite a cart. It almost looked like an open carriage. The driver and the passengers were dressed a bit too fine for commoners, though they were clearly not nobles.

"You can come out," the driver said. "Before I mistake you for bandits and go after you."

Arthur shuddered, before he looked towards the other two. Lukas bit his lip, before he nodded. Carefully, the three of them walked towards the path, hoping that the new arrivals wouldn't attack them.

"Now then, do you mind explaining why you were hiding in the trees?" the driver asked.

"We were just making way," Arthur said. "Sorry to alarm you."

The driver said nothing as he looked them up and down. There was something about his eyes that bothered Arthur. It wasn't exactly as though he was looking down on them, but the gaze was also not very friendly.

"You seem as though you've been travelling for quite some time," one of the passengers said. "Roderich, do you think we should let them ride with us for a while?"

"We don't really know them," the other passenger, Roderich apparently, said. "For all we know, they could be vagabonds or fugitives."

"We don't want to impose," Lukas said. "And we're fine on our own."

"Three fetching young men like yourselves?" the first passenger asked. He grinned. "You wouldn't want any bandits to find you. They might sell you to the highest bidder, and believe me, there are people that would bid high for you."

Arthur's stomach twisted as he felt Vlad grab his wrist. The man said it so casually, and Arthur couldn't detect any malice in the tone. It almost sounded as though he was trying to compliment them. Still, Arthur didn't like that.

"Francis, you shouldn't scare them like that," Roderich sighed. "Sorry about him. He doesn't quite understand the fine line between compliment and harassment."

"How is that harassment?" Francis asked, his voice gaining an indignant edge. "I was simply saying that they are very handsome, and I know of a few nobles that would be more than happy to have them around."

"I-I think we'll get going," Arthur said, taking a step back before looking towards Vlad. He then lowered his voice so that only Vlad could hear. "Are you okay?"

Vlad nodded, though it was clear that he was not okay. Francis's words must have brought back unpleasant memories. If Arthur could just get his hands on that man…

"Now look what you've done," Roderich sighed. "You've gone and scared them."

"I'm so sorry!" Francis said, raising his hands in surrender. "That was not my intention, I promise. So then, let me make it up to you. Why don't we take you at least to the next town? We'll even pay for your food and lodgings."

"There you go again. Making promises on my behalf as well."

"That's really okay," Lukas said. "We're fine with walking."

"Don't be ridiculous! Come now! Dimitri, how long until we reach the next town?"

"It should be about an hour," the driver said.

"That's fine, then. An hour where you don't have to walk, and the cart is surely faster. Please, let me make it up to you."

Arthur looked over towards Vlad. To be honest, he didn't really want Vlad to go anywhere near Francis, especially if he would continue to say things like that. But then, to his surprise, Vlad nodded.

"Let's go," Vlad said. "The faster we can get where we're going, the better."

Arthur felt his stomach drop. Was Vlad really sure about this? He saw Vlad going towards the cart, and against his better judgement, he followed. Lukas was the last to join them.

Arthur hoped that they weren't making a huge mistake.