Prince!Romania x Reader (Part 7)

     Alfred was at it again, planting new seeds like there was no tomorrow, zooming up and down the rows with unusual precision. Matthew looked down at his work; maybe if he challenged his brother more often, things would be perfect around the house instead of changing continuously back and forth from pig sty to palace.

     But then again, leaving things to Alfred all the time might end up being disastrous for everyone.

     Already giving up, Matthew announced that he was going to start on dinner before the sun began to set, but he was met with no response. "I can't possibly be that unnoticeable," he said quietly to himself. Matthew was a fine young man with waves of sandy colored hair and mesmerizing violet eyes. Tall but lean, and definitely less obnoxious than his brother, who, by coincidence, could only be told apart by his hair style and eye color. It seemed Alfred may have received all of the irritating genes from their parents (with the exception of appearance). No one knew how that could have been possible.

     As for cooking skills, though, Matthew somehow always managed to find praise, and this time he hoped to make his little brother, Peter, especially happy since today was a good day.

     Peter met him in the doorway with a look of terror across his youthful face. Matthew couldn't help but guess if they actually were related in any way--their parents had both needed to get their act together. At least he knew Peter had a definite relation to Arthur, as the eyebrows told all. This made him feel better.

     Confused, Matthew asked, "What's wrong?"

     "There's something in the house!"

     "An animal?"

     "No, it's--Just come look!"

     Matthew was roughly pulled inside.

     "There! You see it?" Peter asked, pointing at the wall beside the dinner table.

     After a bit of squinting, his older managed to separate one shadow from all the others in the room--because it moved. "Maple. Peter, I think you should go get Alfred." The shadow seemed to writhe and squirm as if trying to remove itself from the wall, failing to do so but terrifying him to an extent. It began to twist and stretch into some sort of shady form, splitting into new shapes and expanding across the wall slowly. As it finally began to take a shape, Matthew began to follow Peter outside, but his feet stayed planted.

     "Ha! Looks like I win, Matt! Who's the hero? Oh, right, that would be me!" Alfred scanned the field for his brother, finally realizing that he was alone out in the middle of the vast expanse of dirt. Dude left all the work for me! "Well, he probably just realized it was pointless to challenge me. Figured out that there can only be one in the spotlight," he said to himself. Looking off into the distance, he saw a speck on the horizon, waving at him frantically. Curious as he was, he moved closer to it. The speck was making quiet noises in gibberish as they both moved toward each other.

     Oh. Pfft. Peter.

     "What is it, little dude?"

     "Matthew's in trouble! You have to help him!"

     Alfred froze immediately, fearing for his brother. And the next thing he knew, he found himself running back toward the house, tripping over rocks and leaping over anything else in his path.

     He found Matthew pale, blue lipped, and fixated on some spot in the wall. Every vein seemed to stand out on his wintry skin, not red or blue, but a bright and pulsating purple. Alfred couldn't help it--the first thing he thought to do was hoist his brother over his shoulder and run away, feeling Matthew begin to take in air in great gasps. Never turning back to see what the fuss was really about, he collected Peter and ran on. At this point, they knew it was imperative that they find the last two pieces of their small family. And that meant Francis.

     Or Arthur. 

     We also had to know that we had limits to everything we did, and defying it meant losing your status for good. I like to think what I did only made me more human than I was. And humans make mistakes.

     "Look alive, gentlemen! It's time for interrogation!" Vladimir said.

     Chalk symbols were drawn all over the floor in waves, scribbles, and straight lines, all shifting with the movement of the barrier set up only moments ago by the three wizards. Candles formed a perfect circle around Arthur's summoning circle as an extra precaution against opposing magic.

     Lukas let his fingers trace his black eye bitterly. "My work will not be in vain."

     All three wizards formed a chain around the summoning circle, taking deep breaths and passing glances back and forth before beginning an eerie chant. The circle glowed a mysterious purple, light shifting and swirling inside the barrier.

     A head rose from the floor. Slowly, pale blond hair gave way to confused violet eyes set upon a round face, followed by broad shoulders and the rest of the bulky body. When the man had emerged far enough to be able to walk freely, he faced Arthur in a manner that suggested he was less than happy with this situation. Rather than looking angry, the man smiled childishly at Arthur. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Not long enough."

     Arthur seemed to brush the comment off easily and turned to address his friends. "This is Ivan Braginski," he explained. "Highly dangerous, very knowledgeable, and very experienced."

     "I am not dangerous," Ivan corrected, "but I do not tolerate carelessness or rude actions. In fact, Arthur is very much my enemy right now."

     "Your grudge isn't important!" Arthur snapped.

     "You are not solving anything."

     "Hold on, Arthur," said Vlad. "Ivan, what do you know about the strange occurences around the castle?"

     Ivan blinked, confused, but seemed to realize a moment later exactly what Vlad was talking about. "Oh, that!" After several moments of silence, he smiled. "It's none of your business."

     Arthur, who had impatiently  waited with his arms crossed and his foot tapping, glared at the giant. "I suddenly think it would be best for you to leave," he said.

     "Fine by me. You interrupted quality time with my family."

     Vlad stepped forward, saying, "Arthur, he just got here!"

     His protesting was met with a glare and the feeling of the room's temperature suddenly dropping, the walls reflecting an eerie purple more sinister than that caused by the original summoning spell. Ivan clasped his hands behind his back and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the whites had become yellow and the pupils turned to slits. "You will let me go, yes?"

     From a dark corner, a blue light flared, blinding the three figures in the middle of the room. Lukas held up his hand. Floating centimeters above it was a flame, icy and mystifying, licking at the surrounding air. "Cooperate," he said bluntly, "or be eaten by frostfire."

     Now irritated, Ivan's smile faltered. "I only trade information. Tell me what you know first."

     Lukas looked blankly at Vlad, who passed it on to Arthur, who shouted, "Well, how am I supposed to know what to divulge?!"

     "We thought you were our self-appointed leader," Vladimir said innocently.

     "How about you enlighten me on the subject of your friend in the chains?" Ivan said.

     The Magic Trio had nearly forgotten about the clone experiment by now, but recalled the guard to have been a challenge to shut up. After letting him get a good few words in, he had been gagged and restrained before he could report them. In hindsight, they really should have copied someone much more trustworthy. But the past was the past, and now they were stuck with a terrified captive and a terrifying demon.

     Life was good.

     "He is irrelevant," Arthur said slowly. "Ask something else."

     "I ask, you tell. Now inform me."

     Lukas brushed his hair out of his face with his free hand. "Just tell him."

     "Listen to your friend," Ivan said. "He seems to know what he's doing more than you do."

     "We've been copying other life forms," Arthur mumbled.

     "Oh, I see. You are the cause of your own problems, reckless wizards. Did no one ever tell you the rules?"

     "Huh?"

     "When you create a life form using your power, you are creating a vessel for unguarded magic, and therefore openly inviting necromancers to drain that body. However, sometimes dark creatures break free from their bonds and hunt for the original power source while stealing the magic and life forces of others along the way. You've doomed your people."

     "How do we fix that?" Vladimir said frantically.

     "By giving more information in order to find the solution."

     "I don't have anything more to give."

     "Of course you do, Your Highness." He chuckled at the Prince's obvious surprise. "Oh, what can I say? Word gets around in the Underworld, you see, and I find that I hear a lot of things I shouldn't."

     "So . . . I'm popular among the dead?"

     "All the way to the darkest parts of the Eternal Dark."

     "That's so cool! Ow!" Vlad rubbed the back of his head where both of his companions had delivered a hard smack, frowning at both of them. "Tough crowd."

     I admit, I definitely should not have chased after that one human--and I wish I had met you earlier--but he was intriguing to me. I always found him sleeping in the forest where we dwelled, on rocks, under trees, or by creeks and rivers. He didn't seem on edge like he should have been.

     And even when sunset came, he didn't immediately flee. That was the most baffling.