Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 26

"Sit," Romulus said as soon as Gupta entered the office.

Gupta moved quickly to obey. He sat down across from Romulus's seat, though Romulus himself wasn't sitting. He was pacing, and that was never a good sign.

"Did something happen?" Gupta asked.

"That's what I would like to know," Romulus said. "Is there anything that you've been neglecting to tell me?"

A few thoughts clawed their way to the surface, but Gupta had no idea which in particular Romulus would be referring to. And if he guessed wrong, then it would only make things worse for himself.

"I am trying to navigate my way around the spells cast on Vlad, but it's taking a while," Gupta said. "Many of these spells were cast a long time ago, and only strengthened with time."

"Really?" Romulus hissed. "And what is this I hear about 'magical interference' and 'curses'? Or are you going to tell me that you know nothing about those?"

Gupta tensed. Romulus knew more than he had hoped. But how did he even find out about those? The only one that could have told him would be Feliciano, and Gupta was sure that Feliciano wouldn't tell Romulus anything, not at this point in time.

"Your reaction tells me everything," Romulus said. "Did you think that you would be able to hide this from me? Tell me, why shouldn't I consider this to be a betrayal?"

"I… I was still trying to gather information," Gupta said. "The spells placed on him are mostly protection spells, and as a vampire, they can be very damaging. I was trying to go around those spells. But…"

Romulus slammed his fist on the desk, cracking the wood. Gupta jumped.

"Why shouldn't I consider this a betrayal?" Romulus repeated.

Gupta bit back a hiss of anger as he turned his gaze on his sire.

"Do you have any idea what you demanded of me?" Gupta snapped. "I had to navigate through old protection spells that were passed on from one generation to the next, all to find something that I didn't even know what it was. Every time my magic would brush against one of those protection spells, it would cause pain the likes of which you can't even imagine. And then I had to deal with your impatience as well. So, excuse me if I had to find alternative ways to find anything useful!"

The silence echoed after Gupta's outburst. He flinched when he realised that he'd said all these things to his sire. That was never a good thing, especially if Romulus was already angry. Even now, his face was unreadable, and Gupta feared that punishment would soon follow.

"Are you finished?" Romulus asked. "These 'alternate methods' of finding information… Why haven't I heard anything about it?"

"Because… they mostly relied on eavesdropping," Gupta admitted. "And Feliciano."

"Oh, that reminds me… Were you aware of Feliciano telling the Romanian that he was a vampire?"

"It… was a bit more complicated than that."

"Then go on. I'm listening."

"He… Vlad learned from another source that there are vampires in this city. He was able to realise that Feliciano, Lovino, Gilbert and Antonio were vampires, simply because of their interactions at the party. He's very intuitive. He confronted Feliciano, and Feliciano admitted it. But he wasn't bothered about Feliciano being a vampire. He has a talisman that wards off those that mean him harm. It's why Feliciano could touch him, and why he trusts Feliciano."

"A talisman? So, that's what it is. And how long have you known about this?"

"He told Feliciano. I thought that Feliciano would have told you."

Romulus arched an eyebrow, and at the very least, Gupta was assured that this excuse was accepted. He averted his gaze.

"Vlad grew ill yesterday evening," Gupta continued. "He was vomiting blood."

"I heard that it's due to magical interference or a curse," Romulus said. "Do you know anything about that?"

"I… It's not from me. Earlier today, Feliciano told me that there was demonic influence passed along Vlad's bloodline, and that it acts as a curse. I think Feliciano is worried that it might be killing him, and if it's the reason why he's vomiting blood, then it would certainly be something to worry about."

"A demonic influence? What does that even mean?"

"I'm not sure. It might be a parasite or an infection. But it's not a full demon, and it's not a possession. I suspect that this was the reason for all the protection spells surrounding Vlad."

"So, others knew about this. And they let him go?"

Gupta shrugged.

"Perhaps they were worried about unleashing something like that," he suggested. "For all I know, the protection spells could be to keep it all contained."

"And why wouldn't they just kill him, if that was the case?" Romulus asked.

"It might have been too dangerous to kill him. We don't know what type of demon it was, or how powerful it was."

Romulus hummed, his face scrunched in thought. Some of his anger seemed to have abated, but Gupta knew that it was too early to relax. There was more that had angered Romulus, and Gupta could do nothing but wait until Romulus revealed what else had angered him so. And then he could try to abate his anger.

"What would happen if I were to turn him with that demonic influence?" Romulus asked.

"You… want to turn him?" Gupta asked.

"I have reason to believe that he would be very useful, and it would be best if he was a member of our coven. I want to know if the demon would be a problem."

"I… I don't know. It depends on how deeply it is embedded in his blood. But, since this is something passed along through his bloodline, there would definitely be a presence in his blood."

"A demon passed along through his bloodline? Do you know of anything else like it?"

Gupta shook his head.

"It might be similar to a curse," Gupta said. "But… I don't think that you should be the one to turn Vlad. I don't know what would happen in that case."

"And why not?" Romulus asked. "Do you have any reason why I shouldn't?"

"Because… I think he already has a fair amount of vampiric traits. Not just his appearance, but… he's mating with Feliciano."

Romulus paused in his pacing. His lingering anger was currently being shoved aside by surprise and confusion. He slowly turned to regard Gupta.

"What did you just say?" Romulus asked.

"Feliciano and Vlad are mating," Gupta said. "It's why Feliciano's loyalties are wavering."

"Feliciano is… mating with a human?" Romulus shook his head and sat down. Gupta relaxed even more. "I know that he's weak, but not even he is that weak. There has to be something more to it."

"Like I said, Vlad has a few other vampiric traits, not to mention, he is a mage. How much of this is due to the demon's influence, I'm not sure."

Romulus steepled his fingers as he adopted a thoughtful expression. Gupta was sure that he had successfully diverted Romulus's anger from him and towards Feliciano. He didn't mind throwing Feliciano under the bus, especially if it meant that he wouldn't have to be punished. It was a shame that he didn't have a chance to find a use for Vlad for his own gains, but at the moment, his survival was more important.

"I sent Francis, Antonio and Gilbert to fetch the two of them," Romulus said at last. "Then I would be able to see if your claims are true, and how close they are to completing the process. This only confirms what I suspected. I just wish you would have told me earlier."

The atmosphere shifted again, and the anger from before returned. Gupta's eyes widened, despite his efforts to school his face into a neutral expression.

"How long have you known about this?" Romulus asked.

"A… a few days," Gupta said.

"And why didn't you inform me?"

Gupta swallowed. It was a nervous reaction that he couldn't resist employing.

"I… I was using the information against Feliciano," Gupta said. "So that he would help me with my investigation. Even then, he was very protective of Vlad. H-he wouldn't cooperate if it meant telling you anything, but if he told me…"

"And you refrained from informing me to keep his trust?" Romulus hissed.

"It… It wasn't to keep his trust. I just needed him to continue cooperating with me. Once I had enough information, it was always my intention to inform you of everything."

"And yet, you didn't give me even a single crumb of the information you had already gathered, just to show me that you were making progress. How am I supposed to react to all of this? I had to find out from Francis that the boy was sick, and that he is consorting with other supernatural creatures, and that he is looking for something very specific."

Gupta's hands curled into fists, the only reaction he allowed to show. Romulus was referring to the prophecy and he was fishing for information to determine whether Gupta knew about it as well. Gupta didn't want to know what Romulus's reaction would be if he were to find out that Gupta knew about the existence of a prophecy that might or might not involve Vlad. Gupta already knew that Romulus was aware of the prophecy, as Vlad's vision had been specifically about Romulus learning of it.

Vlad's visions… Perhaps he could use those to his advantage somehow.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that you were planning to betray me," Romulus said.

"I-I would never!" Gupta exclaimed. He internally winced at the way he stuttered his denial. He could only hope that Romulus didn't suspect that it was a confirmation of what Gupta was considering. "For more than three centuries, I have served you faithfully. What have I done to make you think that I would betray you?"

"You withheld important information. It almost seems as though you were looking for a way to use the boy to your own advantage."

"No, I… I wasn't sure what exactly it was that you were looking for, so I couldn't…"

Romulus lunged at him, and Gupta tried to dodge out of the way, but he was just too slow. He struggled as Romulus curled his hands around his upper arms and bit into his jugular. Gupta screamed.

Vampires didn't feed from each other, at least, not for sustenance. It was a way to assert dominance, and in a coven, only the vampires that were higher on the hierarchy could do something like this. For a lower vampire to attempt this was seen as an act of rebellion, and the rest of the coven would punish the lower vampire in response. As the leader of the coven, Romulus could take the blood from anyone he wished. It was a punishment reserved for when he was really angry. It left the drained vampire feeling violated, and the pain lingered for a while. Depending on how much blood was drained, it could take a long time to heal, and it only worsened if the victim couldn't feed to replenish the lost blood.

After what seemed like an eternity, Romulus pulled away. He released Gupta's arms, allowing him to fall to the floor. Despite himself, Gupta whimpered at the sudden weakness. Romulus had drained most of his blood.

"Are you still going to try to convince me that you weren't going to betray me?" Romulus asked.

Gupta moved his arms to try to brace himself and push himself up. He cursed Romulus's paranoia. It didn't appear too often, but when it did, it was dangerous for all of them. And to Gupta's dismay, the paranoia was accurate this time. But he couldn't allow Romulus to know that he was actually considering betraying him. All he wanted was his freedom. He wasn't going to kill Romulus.

At least, he hadn't been planning to. But now, killing Romulus sounded very appealing. He didn't even care about claiming leadership of the coven. He just wanted to be rid of Romulus.

"I see that you still haven't learned your lesson," Romulus said. "Perhaps I should leave you in the sun room."

Gupta collapsed, the strength in his arms failing as terror seized him. The sun room was a room with minimal furniture, large windows and no curtains. The glass was also reinforced with a material that was difficult for even them to break, and especially in his current state, there was no way for him to break his way out. And once the sun rose, he would be forced to hide himself as best he could while avoiding the rays.

"N-no," Gupta stammered as Romulus dragged him to his feet. "Please, I-I didn't…"

"You know, if you'd just made regular reports, this wouldn't have happened," Romulus said. "And don't worry. You might be having company, depending on how useful Feliciano can be."

Gupta gritted his teeth as the door opened and Heracles walked in. How long had he been waiting, and had he been waiting for some sort of cue from Romulus?

"Take him to the sun room," Romulus ordered. "He needs a day to reflect on his loyalties."

Heracles nodded and grabbed hold of Gupta. Out of everyone there, Heracles was Gupta's closest friend, so for Heracles to be the one to take Gupta to the sun room was just another form of punishment.

Gupta was still too weak from being drained, so after a few steps Heracles resorted to lifting Gupta and throwing him over his shoulder. Gupta hoped that they didn't come across anyone else. He didn't think that he could bear this humiliation.

"Did you really betray Romulus?" Heracles muttered once they were out of Romulus's earshot.

"The only thing I did was fail to tell him things I didn't know were important," Gupta muttered. "I didn't betray him."

Not yet. But perhaps in the near future. Gupta couldn't continue this way, and if he was treated like this for something he didn't do…

"You haven't been around much lately," Heracles muttered. "He's anxious and impatient, and he snaps at the smallest thing. Something has him on edge, and if it's related to that boy, then this wasn't a good time."

Gupta gritted his teeth. If Heracles thought that it would ease Gupta's temper, then he was wrong.

Heracles opened a door, and after a few steps deposited Gupta on the ground. Gupta winced at the sight of the sun room. There were a few dining room chairs and a bed without any sheets. The bed was the only way to hide from the sun, and it required a lot of careful manoeuvring.

"Sorry," Heracles said. "I'll see you tomorrow evening. Good luck."

The door closed behind him, and Gupta cursed his luck. He patted his pocket, remembering that he'd left his phone in the car. He didn't know who he would call, but if he could somehow interfere with Romulus, it would be worth it.

He still had his power as a mage, and there were several things that he could do. However, his options were a bit limited in his weakened state. But still, if there was something that he could do…

A warning. He could send the young mages a warning. Anything that could sabotage Romulus in some way. He didn't particularly care about what happened to them, as long as it was the opposite of what Romulus wanted.

He sat down next to the bed and closed his eyes. There was a possibility that he would fall unconscious soon, and if that happened, then he would prefer if he was out of the sunlight's trajectory.

He reached out with his mind towards Vlad, Arthur and Lukas. It would require a lot of energy to reach out to all three of them, but he needed to make sure that the message was received.

Romulus sent some of his vampires to your house. He wants Vlad, and he is desperate to get him. Close the café and go home before it's too late.

…

Feliciano frowned when he received a text. Arthur and Lukas were working, so he didn't think that it would be them. And if Gupta was still planning to stop by, then he wouldn't send Feliciano a text as a form of confirmation. He would just appear. But as it turned out, it was, in fact, Arthur.

Gupta just left in a hurry. I have a bad feeling about this.

Feliciano bit his lip. Vlad was still asleep with a fever. He focused his hearing. He recognised the sound of the car that Gupta used, and if he approached, then Feliciano would be able to hear it.

However, instead of Gupta's car, he could hear another car a few blocks away that sounded far too familiar for comfort. And then he received another text, this time from Gupta.

Romulus summoned me. Be careful.

Feliciano's eyes widened. If Romulus summoned Gupta, then something was wrong. And if Feliciano could hear the sound of another one of the coven's cars, then that didn't bode well.

He turned to Vlad. He knew that he needed to allow Vlad to continue sleeping it off, but if someone from the coven was coming, then he couldn't allow Vlad to remain in this vulnerable position. He needed to get Vlad to safety, and it might be easier if Vlad was awake.

He started to shake Vlad awake, and his eyelids started to flutter. His eyes cracked open just as the car stopped in the driveway. That didn't bode well.

"Vlad, we need to go," Feliciano whispered. "My grandpa sent some of the others here, and we need to get to safety."

And just like that, he realised that there wasn't anywhere they could go. Feliciano was one vampire against multiple. And based on the sound of breathing, one of them was Francis. He didn't need an invitation, and he could find a way to get around that system to allow the others in.

They couldn't flee, but perhaps they could hide.