Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 28

Gilbert frowned when he heard Arthur return, along with the other housemate. They still needed to find Vlad, and the arrival of the other two could prove to be an annoyance. It didn't help that it was hard to pinpoint Vlad, for some reason.

Gilbert suspected that the mages had cast some sort of spell or something. They could hear Vlad's heartbeat, but they couldn't hear where the heartbeat was coming from. It was as though the walls around them were echoing, and it was making things more difficult than they had to be.

He stepped into another bedroom, and immediately reared back, holding in a gag. What was wrong with the room?

Gilbert hesitated for a moment before he stepped into the room again. The scent washed over him again, and his mouth twisted in a disgusted snarl. The room smelled like bloody rot. There was no way for any room to smell like that unless someone had been killed very violently a few days ago. And the smell of old blood required there to be more blood than the human body could contain. What was that smell?

He withdrew again. He could still hear Vlad's heartbeat, and he was almost sure that the sound was coming from inside the room. But he didn't think that he could stand going in that room and search around. Even though he didn't need to breathe, the stench was strong enough to invade all of his senses.

How was this even possible? He didn't think that the humans would have left a room like that for any amount of time, and based on the stench, it was some time. He became convinced that Feliciano would most likely do the cowardly thing and hide in that room, but he couldn't understand how Feliciano would have been able to remain there for any amount of time.

Just as he was about to try again, he heard someone running up the stairs. Francis was supposed to be distracting the mages, but once he actually started paying attention again, he could make out that there seemed to be a fight downstairs. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should go to help. The one running upstairs would run into Antonio, and Gilbert would need to be ready to defend his mate, should the situation call for it.

And then, there was sudden silence. Gilbert frowned for a moment before his eyes widened. Vlad's heartbeat stopped. He turned back to the room and barged in, already preparing himself for the stench that would follow, but there was nothing. No trace of the rotting smell, and Gilbert actually sniffed the air to make sure.

Something was really wrong, and he didn't like it.

He turned towards the wardrobe, the most logical place for the two of them to hide. He took a few steps, and just as he reached out his hand, the doors burst open. On the other side was Vlad, with Feliciano scrambling to his feet behind him.

"Seriously?" Gilbert scoffed. "Are you so weak that the human is protecting…"

Before he could finish his statement, Vlad punched him in the face, so hard that he was sent flying to the opposite wall. Gilbert grunted in pain, and it took him a second or two to realise that Vlad was a lot stronger than he was supposed to be. He only had enough time to realise that before Vlad's fist collided with him again, this time in the chest, close to his heart. He could feel the ribs threaten to break, and his eyes widened in alarm as he tried to block the next punch, which was aimed for his face again.

"What the hell?" Gilbert exclaimed.

He stared into Vlad's eyes, and to Gilbert's shock, they were glowing. He stared at them for a moment before he recognised another scent. Now that the stench that had haunted the room was gone, he could make out Vlad's scent. And his eyes immediately went to Feliciano.

"You actually turned him?" Gilbert asked.

Vlad was no longer a human mage. Now, he was a vampire newborn, and he was feral. And he saw Gilbert as his enemy. Gilbert took another sniff, and he decided that this was the strangest night he'd ever experienced, because Vlad didn't smell like a member of his coven, which should have been the case since Feliciano turned him. He smelled completely different.

And as for Feliciano… there was something wrong with him. He was clutching his head and holding onto the wardrobe door, and if Gilbert didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Feliciano looked nauseous. But that wasn't possible for a vampire.

"Get out of my house," Vlad snarled.

Gilbert's eyes snapped back to Vlad, and this time, they focused on the fangs. Vlad meant business, and with the way he threw Gilbert around…

"What's going on?" Antonio asked as he ran into the room.

Gilbert wanted to yell at Antonio to stay away, but before he could, Vlad grabbed him by the throat and threw him towards Antonio. Antonio was too surprised to react, and the two vampires collided with each other.

"This is your last warning," Vlad said. "Get out of my house."

The voice seemed to echo inside Gilbert's head, and there was a sharp pain inside his head. He recognised that pain. The invitation had been revoked, and they were now trespassing. And if they didn't leave, then it would only get worse, until it actually killed them.

Antonio growled, but Gilbert could see that they didn't have much of a choice. Gilbert helped Antonio to his feet, and pulled him along as he ran out of the room, past Arthur, and down the stairs. They paused at the bottom as Gilbert wondered if they should get Francis. Antonio made the decision as he made his way towards Arthur's housemate, who was preparing another spell, and threw him to the side. Francis winced in pain, and Gilbert could smell the blood. Antonio helped Francis to his feet, and they ran towards Gilbert, and the three of them left the building.

"What happened?" Francis asked as soon as they were in the car. "Where are Vlad and Feliciano?"

"Feliciano turned Vlad," Gilbert said. "And Vlad's pretty strong. I think it's because he was a mage before he was turned."

"This complicates things," Antonio said. "But it doesn't make sense. I heard Vlad's heartbeat stop. No one transforms that fast."

"I thought it was strange too. And I think there's something wrong with Feliciano. He looked, well, sick."

"What do you mean 'sick'?"

"He looked like he was about to throw up. Unless he ate a lot of human food, that shouldn't be possible."

"Romulus is going to have a hard time believing all of this," Francis said.

"We need to figure out what we're going to say to him. Because we failed him, and if we don't convince him that what happened actually happened, then we're screwed."

…

Arthur stood there for a few seconds before he stepped into Vlad's bedroom. The first thing he noticed was that the strange feeling that had been there before was gone. The room was just a room now. The second thing he noticed was Vlad, crouching down in front of Feliciano, who looked as though he was going to be sick.

"What happened?" Arthur asked. "Those vampires ran out like, well, bats out of hell."

"I revoked the invitation they didn't earn," Vlad said. "If they didn't leave the house, it would cause them a lot of pain, and would have eventually killed them."

Arthur watched Vlad for a moment. He looked better, though he was still a bit pale.

"It was really that easy?" Arthur asked.

"Yes and no," Vlad said. "Mundane humans wouldn't be able to revoke that invitation. You need to have magical power and authority, and you need to have no fear for the vampires in your house."

Arthur nodded as he absorbed the information, and then he looked over towards Vlad and Feliciano again. There was something wrong with the sight.

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked.

"A bit of an… unexpected result of drinking my blood," Vlad said.

It took Arthur a few seconds to understand the gravity of what Vlad just said. His eyes widened.

"You… you actually did it?" Arthur asked.

"I didn't know you were coming," Vlad said. "And we needed an advantage. The transformation was faster than normal, because I already had a lot of vampiric qualities. It was already in my blood. Feliciano just gave it the final push."

"And… what's wrong with Feliciano?"

"I feel… strange," Feliciano said. "I don't know why this is happening."

"I think I have an idea," Vlad said. "I drank Feliciano's blood, then a few hours later, Feliciano drank my blood. It's like a reverse siring."

"But, Feliciano's already a vampire. He can't be turning into a vampire again, can he?"

Feliciano shook his head.

"That's not what happens, exactly," Feliciano said. "There's another case when vampires have an exchange of blood. It's when vampires change covens." Feliciano looked up at Vlad. "Vlad is the leader of his own coven, and I'm becoming a part of it."

Vlad and Arthur were silent as Feliciano's words washed over them. Vlad looked just as surprised as Arthur.

"What does that even mean?" Arthur asked. "How could Vlad be a leader of his own coven?"

"I thought I would become a member of yours," Vlad said.

"I don't know," Feliciano said. "But my grandpa isn't going to be happy. First, he didn't get his hands on Vlad. Second, there's a new vampire coven, intruding on his long-established territory. Third, one of his own was taken into this new coven."

Vlad's eyes narrowed.

"Feliciano's right," he said. "It's not over yet, and it's possible that we're going to have to fight."

Arthur winced. While he didn't know how many vampires exactly were part of Feliciano's old coven, he only knew that they were more than four. They were outnumbered, and Arthur and Lukas wouldn't be able to fight them. They could perhaps use magic to fight from a distance, but…

"Wait," Arthur said, "where's Lukas?"

If the vampires had left, then Lukas should have already been there, at least to see what had caused the vampires to flee so quickly. Arthur started running, and Vlad followed soon after. They rushed down the stairs and stopped at the bottom, listening for any sign of Lukas. A weak sound reached Arthur's ears, and the two of them rushed towards a lump against the wall.

"Lukas!" Arthur exclaimed. "Are you okay? Did the frog do this to you?"

"Someone… knocked me away," Lukas said. "But it was… really hard."

"Vampires are a lot stronger than humans," Vlad said. "And in their frantic state, they wouldn't exactly have been delicate. They especially didn't have a reason to be careful with any of us. I'm really sorry, Lukas."

Lukas was on his side, and Vlad and Arthur tried to help him to his back. The moment they touched him, though, Lukas screeched in pain. His right hand went to his left arm.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked.

Vlad poked at Lukas's arm, and Lukas hissed at the contact.

"I think his arm is broken," Vlad said. "He had to have been slammed against the wall really hard."

"We need to take him to the hospital," Arthur said.

"And how are we going to explain it?" Vlad asked. "Are we going to say that a vampire threw him against the wall?"

"We could… say we were mugged," Lukas said. "But I… I need…"

"We should probably get him some painkillers first," Arthur said.

"That would be… appreciated."

"We'll just have to tell the hospital that we gave him something for the pain," Vlad said.

"No," Feliciano said, coming in behind them. "My grandpa has moles at the hospital. If we go there, they're going to know, and all those humans will be in danger."

"Wait, you knew that the whole time?" Arthur asked. "Why didn't you say anything about this before?"

"You decided on your own that it would be too risky to take Vlad to the hospital. I didn't think it would be necessary to bring it up."

Arthur sighed. He supposed that he couldn't be too annoyed with Feliciano. After all, up until a few hours ago, he had been too afraid to go against his grandfather and the rest of his coven. It should be expected that there would still be a few things that Feliciano hadn't felt confident to share with them.

"What are we going to do then?" Vlad asked. "Are you good at healing spells?"

"That's not my forte," Arthur said. "I've never healed anything worse than a cut." He cleared his throat. "I've cut myself a few times in the kitchen. My brother Will is the best healer I know, but he's still in Kenya."

"…What about your parents?"

"It's… I'm sorry, but it's a bit too dangerous for them to know about you. I don't know how they would react to everything, and I don't want to make things worse for you."

Vlad was quiet for a moment before he sighed.

"Well, I was probably going to need to meet up with them, anyway," Vlad said. "I mean, I guess I'm technically the head of a new vampire coven. And all supernatural residents are supposed to make their presence known to the Kirkland family, right?"

"Wait, what?" Lukas asked.

Of course, Lukas didn't know about any of this yet. Arthur winced when he looked down. Lukas was very pale, and he could only imagine the amount of pain he must have been in.

"What about Alistair?" Feliciano asked.

"He's not much of a healer, either," Arthur said. "But my mother is. I could perhaps ask for her to come with Alistair. Hopefully, Alistair could help us out, and we won't have to deal with both of my parents at the same time. And if we're here, we have a bit of an advantage. But apparently, the protections need a lot of improvement."

"We can worry about that later," Vlad said. "Call your mom. We need to get Lukas's arm looked at."

…

Francis bit his lip as they arrived at the mansion. He knew that it wouldn't go well. He doubted that Romulus would harm him – he was still too useful – but Gilbert and Antonio could get hurt. And Gilbert was still healing from whatever it was that Vlad had done to him. There was a chance that they could use that to their advantage.

They had discussed what they were going to tell Romulus on the car ride, and they had also used the time to get a clear picture of what happened. Francis was a bit surprised to hear that Feliciano had turned Vlad – there was a system in place for siring new vampires, and it usually required Romulus's permission – and that Vlad was apparently much stronger than Gilbert. Feliciano was not allowed to sire anyone, and Romulus would definitely be angry about that part.

"Let's get this over with," Gilbert said as he killed the engine.

Francis followed behind Antonio and Gilbert. He had a few cuts, so he knew that everyone would be able to smell his blood. Romulus would also be able to smell it, and they were hoping that it would help them to convince him that things were dire.

They had only made it about halfway to Romulus's office before they ran into him. He blinked for a moment before his eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms.

"Where are Feliciano and the boy?" Romulus asked.

"There were… problems," Gilbert said.

Romulus sniffed the air and turned to Francis.

"Did Feliciano do that to you?" he asked.

"N-no," Francis stammered. "Lukas and Arthur arrived earlier than expected, not long after I used the invitation loophole. Lukas was the one that did these to me. He used his magic."

"We had some trouble finding Vlad," Gilbert said. "We could hear his heartbeat, but we couldn't pinpoint where it came from. It was weird."

"And this is why you didn't bring them?" Romulus asked, his voice a low growl.

"Not exactly. It took longer. Eventually, I found this room, and… I have no idea what those humans did in there, but the stench was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. It was foul. And then… Vlad's heartbeat stopped."

"Are you saying he died?"

Romulus looked as though he was about to rip their heads off, literally.

"N-no," Gilbert said. "Feliciano turned him. And the transformation was quick. Vlad was already a vampire."

Romulus growled, before his face smoothed.

"So, Feliciano ensured that he would be part of our coven," Romulus said. "We could use that to our advantage."

"A-actually…" Gilbert stammered. "Vlad… didn't smell like one of us. He smelled like… like you smelled before I joined you. He smelled like a vampire from a different coven."

"What?!"

"Y-yeah. A-and he was a lot stronger than me. H-he threw me around like I was some sort of ragdoll. And he almost broke the ribs near my heart."

Francis winced. It wasn't false that being impaled in the heart could kill vampires. Stakes were preferable, and while it was harder to accomplish, it should be possible to kill a vampire with their own broken bones. He could sense Antonio tense next to him.

Romulus's eyes flashed, and he turned around and walked away. Francis was confused at first, before he stopped and turned to them.

"Come," he snapped. "We're going to have a chat about this with Gupta, and then we're going to have to gather everyone. Looks like we're going to war."

Francis, Gilbert and Antonio exchanged a look before they followed after Romulus. Francis swallowed. He didn't know what it meant for vampires to go to war, and he didn't know what it would mean for him.