Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 31

Vlad returned to the living room, the details of the telepathic conversation still rolling through his mind, and Gupta's request was particularly of note. He toyed with the amulet as he joined the others.

"Are you feeling better?" Feliciano asked.

"Da," Vlad said, smiling weakly. "I needed a moment alone."

"Is something the matter?" Arthur asked. "You looked a bit… distracted."

"I was going to say 'urgent'," Lukas said. "What's up?"

Vlad sighed, before he sat down next to Feliciano. He ran his hand through his hair before he looked towards his housemates.

"Gupta contacted me again," he admitted.

"What does he want?" Lukas asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"He told me that Romulus is gathering everyone, with the intention of attacking us. And he wants to join my coven."

"What?" Arthur asked. "How does he even know about…?"

"If Gilbert and the others reported to my grandpa, which they most certainly did, and if they didn't hold back any details, then my grandpa would probably want to know how it was possible, and he would ask Gupta about it, since Gupta is the only one really familiar with magic," Feliciano said.

"Okay, makes sense… but why would he want to jump ship? Isn't he loyal to your grandfather?"

"He said that he was drained," Vlad said, "and he mentioned a sun room?"

Feliciano's face darkened.

"That makes sense," he said. "To drink from another vampire is a show of dominance, and it's…" Feliciano shuddered. "It's not a pleasant experience for the one being drank from. It's… It's the biggest type of violation among vampires. And if a vampire of lower rank does it, then the others would torture or kill them. But if a higher vampire does it… A-and as the head of a coven, my grandpa does it a lot. He mostly reserves it as a form of punishment. If he drained Gupta, then he was really mad at him. And the sun room is another form of punishment. It's a room with large windows, no curtains, and almost no furniture."

"In other words, next to no protection from the sun," Vlad said. "Makes me think that the reason why he decided to defect was because he was afraid."

"What could he have done that made your grandpa punish him like that?" Arthur asked. "I mean, it seems like overkill."

"I think it has to do with me," Vlad said. "I mean, Gupta being punished on the same night that Feliciano's grandpa decided to send a few vampires to get me… it's not a coincidence."

Feliciano bit his lip.

"Gilbert and the others were also after me," Feliciano said. "So… I think my grandpa might have found out about the things that I didn't tell him. And about the things that Gupta didn't tell him. He would be mad that we didn't tell him anything. But, how would he even know anything about this?"

Lukas closed his eyes, a pained look on his face.

"How good is a dhampir's hearing?" Lukas asked.

"Worse than a vampire's, better than a human's," Feliciano said. "Why?"

"When I went to speak to Toris earlier today, Francis was there."

"Francis?" Toris asked. "As in, Francis Bonnefoy? The assistant?"

"He's a dhampir who's loyal to the vampire coven."

Toris nodded.

"I could smell that he wasn't a normal human," Toris said. "But I never encountered something like him before, so I didn't know about that."

"You think that he might have listened in on your conversation?" Raj asked. Lukas nodded. "And if it's anything like the conversation I had with Arthur, then they've got their claws on some dangerous pieces of information. Specifically, about that demonic influence."

"I'm so sorry!" Lukas exclaimed. "If I'd known about the risk, then I wouldn't have…"

"It's not your fault," Vlad said. "But that would explain why Feliciano's grandpa would decide to make a move, and why he would punish Gupta the way he did."

His fists clenched as he thought about the thing that he didn't want to say out loud. If Gupta had been punished like that, then Romulus was planning to do the same to Feliciano, or worse. The way Feliciano spoke about being drained made it sound as though he had been subjected to it a few times. And he had noticed through the telepathic connection that Gupta was in a weakened state. The thought of Feliciano being in a similar situation made Vlad's blood boil, or it would have, if his heart had still been beating.

He was still getting used to the reality that he wasn't human anymore.

"Did Gupta tell you anything else?" Arthur asked.

"He said that the others went out to feed to regain their strength," Vlad said. "And that they all took a bit of Francis's blood. Gupta tried to listen in on what was going on, but that's the best he could do. He has no idea when they're going to attack, but he confirmed that it's definitely going to be tonight."

"And that doesn't give us a lot of time."

"By the way, I haven't seen the fairies for a while," Lukas said. "Do you think that they would be able to help?"

"Not at the moment. The fairies have migrated to the park. They have a hard time staying around human civilisation. They'd come visit, but it would take too much time to get them, and I don't know if they would be able to help in the first place."

"Oh. I thought we might have more help."

"We could cast some protection spells over the house," Vlad said. "That should give us an edge, and if Gupta isn't interested in helping them out, we might actually stand a chance. They wouldn't have someone that would be able to undo the spells."

"Unfortunately, casting something strong would take a lot of time," Arthur said. "And we might not have that time."

"Unless you and I focus on casting those spells," Lukas said. "It's more dangerous for us on the front lines, so it would be better if we're the support."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Toris said. "That means that we have one less thing to worry about."

Vlad nodded.

"I assume you each know at least a little protection magic?" Vlad asked.

"Yes," Arthur replied. "We can look at the tomes for anything stronger, but for now, we can do basic wards."

"I'll help too. And then we need to think about what to do about Gupta. We need to get him out of that room before the sun rises."

"That's not going to be easy," Feliciano said. "We'd have to wait for the coven to leave the mansion, and that would mean that they're on their way here. We can't afford for anyone to not be here when they come."

"Could he break out of the room?" Arthur asked.

"If he's been drained, then he's going to be very weak. And the windows are unbreakable, solid glass. There's nowhere to open the windows. The door itself is reinforced. It was built to contain us."

"Could he use magic to get out of the room?" Lukas asked.

"I don't know," Vlad said. "He felt pretty weak just now. I had to strengthen the connection because he was losing his grip on it."

"Is this really someone you want as part of your coven?" Raj asked. "Because it seems to me that you're spending a lot of time trying to find a solution regarding this Gupta when you should work on protecting everyone currently here."

"Raj is right," Vlad sighed. He turned to Feliciano. "I take it that deciding to join another coven isn't an easy decision, right?"

"You're right," Feliciano said. "He's never going to be safe again as long as the two covens are in this city. The same can be said for me. The others will try to kill us."

"Which means it's not an impulsive decision." Vlad buried his hands in his hair. "We're going to have to figure something out. And soon." He stood up, and Lukas and Arthur followed suit. He turned back to Toris and Raj. "Is there anything you need to do to prepare?"

"Um, I'm a bit hungry," Toris admitted. "I didn't really have a chance to eat something yet."

Vlad indicated the tray of snacks.

"Would that work?" Vlad asked.

"I… I kind of need something a little more… meaty," Toris said. "Oh, but it doesn't have to be raw. As long as it isn't well-done."

Vlad looked over to the snacks. It was mostly crackers, cheese and veggies. It wouldn't really be appetising to a werewolf.

"Feel free to help yourself in the kitchen," Vlad said.

"Are you serious?" Toris asked. "I-is that fine?"

"As long as you leave the kitchen in a better state than Arthur, there's no problem," Lukas said.

Arthur glared at Lukas, but Vlad turned his attention to Raj, who only raised his hands.

"I've had my dinner, so I'm fine," Raj said. "I can keep an eye out for their arrival."

"Me too," Feliciano said.

Vlad nodded, before he looked down at his hands.

"Before we do that, we should form the contract," Vlad said, before he turned towards Feliciano. "Is that a good way to describe it?"

Feliciano nodded. Vlad brought his hand closer and bit down.

…

Lovino and Marcello returned to the mansion. They had received a message from their grandfather to finish feeding and return. The two didn't want to rush the process, even though it was clear that it was urgent. Lovino couldn't remember the last time they were specifically told to feed before they had to return.

He'd also noticed that Feliciano hadn't been back to the mansion for a while. He knew that Feliciano had some sort of mission regarding that Romanian. Did he make a mess of things? He knew that it was difficult for Feliciano to do anything right, and that it was expected for him to fail. So it didn't make sense that their grandfather would be angry about that. At least, not as angry as he appeared to be. There had to be more to it.

Though, Lovino sometimes had the impression that Feliciano made himself look weaker than he actually was. People underestimated him, and they had low expectations of him. Feliciano was a vampire, and it wasn't unexpected for him to use others' low expectations of him to his advantage.

It was easier to accept that Feliciano might have had an underhanded side than it was that his brother was a pathetic and cowardly weakling.

Lovino and Marcello entered the mansion and went straight to the salon, and Lovino winced when he saw that they were among the last to arrive. Feliciano and Gupta were the only ones who were still absent. Romulus turned his attention to them, and Lovino had to refrain from flinching.

"Did you manage to find suitable prey?" Romulus asked. "You were taking long."

"We were at a college party," Marcello said, his voice a bit too cheerful. Lovino wondered if Marcello was purposely acting oblivious to the tension in the room in the hopes of alleviating it. "There were a lot of cute girls with very healthy blood."

"Seducing them without alcohol took some time," Lovino said. "We needed to keep the blood as pure as possible."

Romulus nodded, his annoyance abating somewhat. Lovino tried not to show how relieved he was at Romulus's satisfaction regarding their explanation.

"Now that we're all here, we can get to the matter at hand," Romulus said.

"Wait," Vash said, looking around. "We're still missing Gupta and Feliciano."

"Gupta is in the sun room. He withheld important information, and his punishment is still not enough. As for Feliciano…" Romulus's face twisted in rage, and this time, Lovino couldn't refrain from recoiling. He wasn't the only one. "Feliciano is a traitor. He abandoned the coven for his new mate."

"His… what?" Lovino asked. "How could another vampire be here without our knowledge?"

"He wasn't a vampire until a few hours ago." Romulus turned to Gilbert and Antonio. "Explain what happened."

The two shared a look. Normally, Lovino wouldn't mind if the two of them were uncomfortable, but under the circumstances, it didn't bode well.

"We went to get the Romanian," Antonio said. "We had Francis create the loophole to let us get in the house. And then the Romanian's heartbeat stopped."

"He was turned," Gilbert said. "And Feliciano is his sire."

Almost everyone in the room snarled in anger, and those that didn't were too shocked to react. Feliciano didn't have permission to sire anyone, and the fact that he did would explain why Romulus considered him a traitor. Still…

"Didn't you say that Feliciano abandoned the coven for his mate?" Lovino asked. "Did this mate give him the authority to sire someone?"

"The Romanian is his mate," Romulus said. "According to Gupta, there was demonic influence in the Romanian's blood. And when Feliciano sired him, the Romanian didn't become a member of our coven."

"His scent wasn't like ours," Gilbert said. He rolled his shoulders. "And he's strong. Very strong. I don't know about Feliciano, but if they're mates…"

"Then, when Feliciano turned him, his allegiance shifted," Ludwig said. "But how is any of this even possible?"

"There's only one thing that I can think of," Romulus said. "My sire told me of a prophecy, regarding the heir to the Prince, the former vampire king."

Lovino's eyes widened. He remembered, not too long ago, when they told him about the Romanian originally, his reaction to the boy being 'from the Prince's land'… It made sense.

"You knew that he could be dangerous," Lovino said.

"I knew that if he was who the prophecy was referring to, he would be a valuable tool," Romulus said. "And he's young, and newly sired. We can still force him to submit to us."

For the first time in a long time, Lovino felt the icy hand of dread close around his throat. If the Romanian was truly the new vampire king, then he was a very powerful and dangerous being. He was already a mage, and Lovino knew how strong a mage-turned-vampire could be. He'd seen Gupta in action many times, and had scuffled with Gupta a few of those times. Would the Romanian be just as strong, or was he perhaps even stronger?

And then there was the matter of his housemates to think of. They were two mages, and depending on whether or not they accepted the Romanian, even after he was transformed, they could prove to be an additional nuisance. And if Feliciano was allied with them…

"Shouldn't we gather more information before we do anything?" Lovino asked.

Romulus glared at him, and Lovino flinched.

"It was through 'gathering information' that two of my own betrayed me," Romulus said. "The time for the gentle way is over. We are taking what we want." He smirked. "And the two mages that shared a lodging with the Romanian would be an excellent prize. Surely, none of you would turn down the opportunity to sample mage blood. And the young Kirkland mage would be an excellent hostage."

The dread squeezed harder. Lovino sought out Heracles's gaze, and he could see the same dread in Heracles's eyes. The two of them had spent quite a bit of time researching Greek and Roman mythology, and comparing the two of them. In the texts, hubris was considered to be the key to a person's undoing. And when Christianity came, hubris became pride, the deadliest sin. And it was that very hubris, that pride, that Lovino could see in his grandfather now.

Lovino's eyes scanned over the room. A few of the others seemed to sense the danger, but the majority were eager for some bloodshed. It had been a long time since they had a good conflict.

He just had to hope that his grandfather's hubris wouldn't bring their downfall.

…

Gupta remained close to the door, listening to the discussion below. He frowned. Romulus's arrogance was disgusting. He could only hope that he would come to regret his arrogance before the night ended.

He was still very weak, but not as bad as he had been. He'd almost lost his connection to Vlad, but the younger mage had managed to pick up the slack. Gupta could sense the power through the connection, and that had erased the last of his hesitation. He'd already decided to request from Vlad to join his coven, but when he sensed his power, he was sure in his decision. It wasn't just Gupta's current weakness that made Vlad seem comparatively stronger. Vlad was truly very powerful, far stronger than the transformation to vampire should have made him. And Gupta didn't want to be Vlad's enemy.

He shook himself. It would seem that it was time for the coven to leave. They wouldn't go in the cars. They wanted stealth, and Feliciano recognised the sounds of all of the cars. He wished to convey this to Vlad and the others, but he needed to conserve his energy for what he needed to do now.

Once he was sure that they were all off the premises, he placed his hand on the doorhandle. He poured his magic into the locks, and soon there was a click. He smiled as he opened the door. He wasn't too weak for such a spell.

Perhaps he could still join the battle. If he was going to regain Vlad's trust, then it would be good to participate on Vlad's side. But he would need to feed first. The way things were now, it would be suicide to go into battle in his current state. And he would need to keep his prey alive. He had a feeling that it wouldn't count in his favour if he killed a human.

He left the mansion, but before he left the grounds, he stopped. His phone was still in his car. And he still had his keys. And nothing was stopping him from going in the car.