Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 22

"Could you repeat that?" Alistair asked. "You saw your reflection?"

Feliciano nodded.

"Most vampires forget what they look like after a few years," Feliciano said, "but I have the advantage of having my twin be in the coven with me. It wasn't exactly Lovino that I saw, and it wasn't Marcello. So it could only have been me."

Alistair rubbed his face.

"We're seriously dealing with something beyond our ken," Alistair growled. "How's Vlad?"

"He's awake. His fever dropped, and he's coherent. At least, he didn't make another move for my blood again."

"And… the mating ritual? How much more is there to do?"

Feliciano flinched.

"The most important steps are the act of intimacy, and an exchange of blood," Feliciano said. "With Vlad drinking my blood, that just means that all that's left is for me to drink his blood."

"And what about the whole 'act of intimacy' thing?" Alistair asked.

"I gave him a painting I made for him of his hometown, as an apology for spying on him. According to our mage, that was enough to count."

"…So, you told the mage in your coven about this?"

"He doesn't know everything. But he was the one that figured out what's happening between Vlad and me, and he's using it to blackmail me. I need to give him information that his magic won't be able to figure out."

"…Some of those spells surrounding Vlad have been undone…"

"I asked about them. He says that he didn't do it. He wants to figure out what's special about Vlad. He says he tried to move around the spells cast on Vlad, but that he didn't undo any of the spells. If my grandpa decided that Vlad would be useful, then it would be best to keep him alive and healthy. He wouldn't do anything that would make my grandpa mad with him."

"And how happy is he to do what your grandpa wants?"

Feliciano was quiet as he thought about the last week or so.

"He's not too happy," Feliciano admitted. "My grandpa saved his life, and he used to be grateful. But I think recently he feels as though he's being exploited. I also know that my grandpa is getting impatient, and he's the one that gets punished. I smelled the burnt skin the other day."

"And what about you?" Alistair asked. "Did your grandpa punish you like that?"

"Everyone in my coven has low expectations from me. It's usually a problem, but it does mean that I'm less likely to be punished."

"But apparently they had enough expectations to leave you in charge of spying on Vlad."

"But not alone. There are at least two others spying on him too. At least one of them is in the dark, for now. But the other one…"

"The mage. How much does he know?"

Feliciano sighed.

"More than I would have liked," Feliciano said. "He found out about Vlad meeting me on Saturday, and so he came to spy on us."

"That's a problem," Alistair sighed. "How much of what's going on now does he know?"

"…A bit. I had to ask him for help. Things… Things are beyond us."

Alistair rubbed his forehead, before he nodded.

"I understand," he said. "Can we trust him?"

"No," Feliciano said. "But we have to."

"…I need to know something. If your grandpa had low expectations of you, why were you trusted to spy on Vlad?"

"It's because I could touch Vlad without problem. We didn't know about that amulet of his at that point. But it was enough to get Vlad's trust."

"Yeah, I'm worried about that. Artie says that he seems a bit too open with supernaturals." Alistair looked up. "I should probably go check on him. Anything else to report?"

"Nothing in particular," Feliciano said.

He decided not to mention anything about Gupta planning on coming by later. He hoped that nothing bad happened while Gupta was there.

To be honest, he was worried about Gupta. His motivations and attitude had become hard to gauge lately, other than the fact that he seemed high-strung. Feliciano hoped that it wouldn't end in Gupta doing something in a fit of desperation or anything. He didn't want to have to deal with the fallout of something like that happening.

Alistair went upstairs to the guest room, with Feliciano following behind. Vlad was still sitting up and sipping the water.

"Well, you look better than last night," Alistair said. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

"I'm not hungry," Vlad said. "Um, I…"

"What's wrong?" Feliciano asked.

Vlad closed his eyes and sighed.

"I could hear everything you said downstairs," Vlad said.

Alistair and Feliciano exchanged a look. Feliciano tried to think of everything they said to each other downstairs. Was Vlad mad?

Alistair also looked uncomfortable. Vlad looked over to Feliciano.

"So, he was spying on us on Saturday," Vlad said. "That's when I told you about the vision and the prophecy, right?"

Feliciano swallowed and nodded. Vlad curled up into an even tighter ball, if that was even possible.

"So, your grandpa knows," Vlad said. "It would be enough for him to consider me to be useful, wouldn't it?"

Feliciano opened his mouth, intent on reassuring Vlad, but then something occurred to him.

"I… I don't think he told my grandpa," Feliciano said. "He used that to blackmail me, but… then he realised that we were mating, and… I haven't heard anything more about the visions. My grandpa hasn't said anything about it yet."

"I highly doubt it was out of the goodness of his heart," Alistair said. "But, if he's blackmailing you with that information, then it's better than your grandpa knowing about it."

"You need to break away from the coven," Vlad said. "It would be safer for you."

Feliciano couldn't help but smile. Vlad was more worried about Feliciano than himself. It would be a problem, but Feliciano wasn't used to people caring about him.

"That's not going to be very easy," Feliciano said. "They may think I'm useless, but my grandpa is very proud. Any attempt to get away is going to be seen as an insult to his pride, and he especially isn't going to like a weakling like me thinking that I don't need the coven anymore."

"And if you were to have the support of the Kirkland family?" Alistair asked. "I'm sure that we'll have at least some sway over him."

Feliciano flinched and shook his head.

"He's going to see it as an act of war," Feliciano said. "And I don't want to know what he's going to do as a result."

Alistair sighed and shook his head.

"I'm going to need to discuss this with Arthur," Alistair said, "but we definitely have to tell our parents."

Vlad smacked his forehead, and Feliciano immediately felt concern.

"Arthur told us that your mom invited us for dinner this weekend," he said. "We're screwed if your family sees me like this."

"You're screwed either way," Alistair said. "And I'm afraid we won't be able to wait until this weekend. The way you look right now… You're not going to last. Now, give me your hands."

"Why?" Feliciano demanded, and he flinched at the growl in his own voice.

"I just need to check on Vlad's aura. I need to maintain contact if I do something like that, especially if I want to probe and check the status of the spells around him."

Vlad gave Alistair his hands, and Feliciano had to take a step back to prevent himself from storming at the human. The instincts were stronger. It must have been because they were so much closer to completing the mating ritual.

And then Vlad would be trapped with a weakling like him.

"Dammit," Alistair spat. "More of the spells are undone. I'm starting to think that there's something on the inside causing it to happen."

"Is that possible?" Feliciano asked. "I mean, he's dealing with a demon, so it should be possible that…"

"It's not a full demon. Or, should I say, it's not an entity with agency. It's not a possession."

"That's what I told Arthur. Oh, he spoke with the naga. Apparently, it's possible for this to be a parasite or an infection."

"…That's actually an interesting way to look at it. But I don't think it's an infection. It doesn't look like it would spread to anyone other than Vlad."

"You guys know I'm still here, right?" Vlad asked.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to talk past you. But this is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It worries me. It also worries me that the spells are coming undone. This place is supposed to have wards, so it shouldn't be possible to cast spells that affect the people inside if you're outside. And you didn't leave since last night, right?"

Vlad shook his head.

"No," he said. "I've barely even left the bed."

"That's what makes me think that it's something from inside," Alistair said. "It's the same with your room. Instead of feeling a presence, I feel an absence. And with Feliciano seeing his reflection in there… There's definitely something very wrong."

"Is there any way to investigate what's going on?"

"I don't want to do it alone, to be honest. There's no way I'm going to let you anywhere near that room, though. And I'm not sure if involving Arthur or Lukas would be a good idea, seeing as they live in close proximity to that room too. And…"

"…If you think you need to, you should tell your parents about what's going on. They might have a better idea of what to do."

"I'm just worried about what their reactions would be about… all of this. And they'd probably be mad that Arthur and I didn't say anything sooner."

"But the longer you go without saying anything, the angrier they'd be."

"You said that the protection spells are being undone," Feliciano said. "What if you cast some more?"

"Some protection spells aren't as simple as reciting a few words," Alistair said. "But… you have a point. If the protection spells are being undone, then we'd need to add a few more. At the very least, it should buy us time."

"…When I first moved in, Arthur said he cast a spell for prosperity and protection," Vlad said. "Is that spell also undone?"

"I didn't detect Arthur's magical thumbprint," Alistair said. "But I can check again."

Vlad nodded, and Alistair took his hands again.

"Would the books downstairs have protection spells?" Feliciano asked. "I could get them, in the meantime."

"There's a chance that you wouldn't be able to touch that book if that's the case," Alistair said. "Those kinds of spells will create an aura around the book that prevents creatures like vampires from approaching."

Feliciano pouted. He wanted to do something to help Vlad. He felt so useless. His coven had treated him as though he was useless for centuries. Even his father, back when he was human, had considered him to be useless. Feliciano was used to it, but he hated the thought that he was useless for Vlad. He was the only person that Feliciano didn't want to think of him as useless.

"Feliciano," Vlad said, "I'm getting a bit hungry. Do you think that you can make me something light to eat?"

Feliciano perked up. Even if Vlad was only asking him out of pity, it was something that he could do.

"I'll get on it right away," Feliciano said, before he rushed out of the room.

As soon as he was away from Vlad, he felt the longing, and his gums itched. He didn't like that he left Vlad alone with someone else. At least he would be able to hear their conversations, so if something happened, Feliciano could intervene.

…

Once Feliciano was out of the room, Alistair whispered a spell.

"What was that?" Vlad asked.

"Just a muffling spell," Alistair said. "I don't want him to listen to our conversation."

"…Conversation in general, or…?"

"My parents aren't going to be happy if they found out about Feliciano. And they're not going to be happy if they found out about what's happening between the two of you."

Vlad flinched. Of course, things could never be easy.

"I don't know if they'd be able to help," Alistair said, "but if they think that Feliciano is a threat, then they may get rid of him. By any means necessary."

"N-no," Vlad whimpered, curling up into a ball.

"I can see that he cares about you. And you care about him. Even without this whole mating business. And that's another thing: It's unnatural. Literally. This is only supposed to be something that happens between two vampires, and you still have a pulse. It's not supposed to happen to you, but it is. It might be a sign that something is seriously wrong."

"And… then what?"

"I don't know. It's rare for our family to take real action against magical threats."

"Is that what I am? A magical threat?"

Alistair pursed his lips. Vlad curled up into a tighter ball.

"My parents are a bit conservative over certain things," Alistair said. "I'm just warning you now."

Vlad winced. He had met his fair share of 'conservative' people, and it had never gone well for him. Still, he didn't like to think about there being any danger to either him or Feliciano.

The two looked up when Feliciano returned with a sandwich on a plate. Vlad blinked. Feliciano hadn't been gone for long. Perhaps he had noticed that Alistair placed a muffling spell on the room and worked to return as quickly as possible.

"I hope this is fine," Feliciano said as he handed the plate to Vlad. "It's just ham and cheese. I think I heard humans talk about that combination."

"Probably the most classic type of sandwich," Vlad said, smiling. "Thank you, Feliciano." He took a bite of the sandwich, and after swallowing, he turned to Feliciano again. "Some butter would have been nice too."

"I'll look at the books downstairs," Alistair said. "I'll see if I can find one or two protection spells."

"What about the spell that Arthur cast?" Vlad asked.

"…It's still there, but it's at risk. I'll strengthen it when I get back."

Alistair then left. Vlad continued to eat his sandwich while Feliciano hovered nearby, eager to help but not knowing how.

"Feli," Vlad said after a while. Feliciano immediately perked up. "I need you to do me a favour."

"Of course," Feliciano said.

"When Alistair is gone, I need you to help me go to my room."

Vlad didn't really want to go back there, but after hearing what Feliciano and Alistair had to say about what happened in that room, he needed to see for himself what was going on again. There was something, and he didn't think being ignorant about it was a good idea.

"But, Alistair said…" Feliciano started.

"I know," Vlad said. "But I think I need to go there myself. Something is happening to me, and I don't like being ignorant or helpless."

Feliciano faltered. His eyes trailed to Vlad's wrist, and Vlad instinctively tried to shield the wrist from Feliciano's gaze. He could see the emotions warring in Feliciano's eyes. The vampire was most likely thinking about everything that had happened recently regarding the room. But eventually, his emotions seemed to shift.

"Okay," Feliciano whispered.

Vlad smiled. Alistair returned a few minutes later with one of the books and a mortar filled with a scent that made Vlad's nose protest its proximity.

"I managed to prepare something," Alistair said. "This should hopefully hold for a few days."

"And if it doesn't?" Feliciano asked.

"It just needs to hold until I manage to get something more effective from the Kirkland library. Now, Vlad, this might itch, but I need you to hold still."

True to his word, it did itch a bit as Alistair applied the paste in patterns while muttering the spell. Every few seconds, Alistair had to check the book, and it was clear that he had never cast this spell before. Vlad wasn't particularly comforted by the realisation.

"There," Alistair said. "I'll try to come back later with better books. I just need to dodge my parents' questions. I need Arthur with me when we finally tell them about what's going on."

Vlad swallowed and nodded. He was worried about Arthur's parents finding out about what was going on with him, and also about Feliciano, but he also knew that he needed to have this dealt with. His life literally depended on it.

Feliciano accompanied Alistair to the front door. Vlad could still hear them clearly.

"Do you know around what time you'll be here?" Feliciano asked.

"Depends on how long it takes me to get the books, and possible ingredients," Alistair said. "It should be around late afternoon or early evening, if I'm lucky."

"Okay. Good luck."

The front door closed, and Feliciano returned shortly afterwards. Even with Vlad's newly-sensitive hearing, Feliciano barely made a sound when he walked. It was one of the marks of a predator.

"Do you really want to go?" Feliciano asked.

Vlad nodded.

"I have a feeling that it's something I need to do," Vlad said. "I hope you realise that it wasn't an easy decision."

Feliciano nodded.

"The way you looked on Sunday… I know," Feliciano said. "I just hope that something bad doesn't happen again."

Vlad held back a flinch. He knew that Feliciano meant well, but he couldn't help but feel that they were jinxed now.

Feliciano helped Vlad out of the bed. His legs felt heavy, and his vision swam. He didn't think that he would have been able to get to his room on his own. With his arm around Feliciano's shoulders, they went to Vlad's room. It took longer than Vlad would have preferred as his legs refused to cooperate. He didn't think that he was this helpless.

They hesitated for a moment outside of the bedroom. Vlad took a deep breath and nodded, and the two went forward. The moment they crossed the threshold, Vlad's vision went black.