Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Utopia	By : FlayraDowitcher Category: +G to L > Hetalia: Axis Powers Views: 3044 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I am making no money off of this fic.

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
***Self edited again. I did my very best. Please read on and enjoy! There's some good info in this chapter, so no skipping! Read and review please! ^^ Feed the starving writer!
***Warnings: Mild yaoi, language, disturbing scenes, angst
***Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I am making no money off of this fic.
'Everybody is a book of blood.
Wherever we're opened, we're red.'- Clive Barker

Chapter 24: Broken Boys
'Where am I?' Feliciano asked when he found himself wandering through some woods, surrounded all around by monstrous trees and luscious green ground. 'I'm normal again.' He looked at his hands but then felt something on his back. Turning around he saw that they were his angel wings. 'Oh…guess I'm not normal after all. But what is going on?' He didn't know where this place was or what he was doing here. All he could remember was the Fiend Griot disappearing and Ludwig's body laying on the floor completely mutilated. 'Ludwig…' He covered his eyes with his hands to let a few tears fall.
The sound of footfalls on the ground alerted him to the arrival of a person. Quickly he darted behind a tree to hide from the approaching person. Carefully, he held his breath and peeked around the tree to see what is was. He softly gasped at the sight of someone who could only be Ludwig! But he was so different! Ludwig looked fairly young with an athletic build to him, so unlike what he was used to looking at. Ludwig's clothing was different as well, looking like it was all made from furs and animal skin. It suddenly occurred to him! Was this Ludwig's past life he was looking at? Was that Ludwig the Germanic warrior? Feliciano couldn't help but smile at how adorable his lover was as a human, and how young! Eternal life can really change a person!
Someone else came to join Ludwig where he stood and turned out to be Gilbert. Feliciano had never seen what Gilbert truly looked like as a human. Gilbert was barely dressed, showing off his well-sculpted body and flawless white skin, free of scars and stitches. His eyes were open and wide, sparkling with the albino shade of pink. Gilbert looked like some sort of shaman as he spoke to his brother. They both looked so happy, more so than Feliciano had ever seen them. Ludwig was actually smiling! He smiled without any strain as if it was something natural he always did.
But the scene had changed quickly, becoming a fierce battle ground as Roman soldiers clashed with Germanic warriors. Feliciano found that he could not flee the scene even though there was fighting going on all around him. No one saw him. He did see Ludwig and Gilbert, however. He saw how Gilbert was gang raped and then pulled apart limb by limb. The pink eyes shortly followed, being placed in the pouch of a Roman soldier. Feliciano turned to look at Ludwig then, being held down by Roman soldiers and forced to witness his brother being torn apart. They let Ludwig go. Feliciano found his feet to run to his young lover, to stop him from collecting the limbs of his brother but it was all for naught. He couldn't touch Ludwig. 'Ludwig!' he cried, but Ludwig didn't hear him. His lover picked up the disregarded limbs, piling them in his arms, using the still twitching hand to rub against his cheek, and then Ludwig took a bite. He bit right into the bleeding muscle of Gilbert's arm.
Feliciano saw right then just how insane Ludwig became, and why the Romans chose to burn him. Ludwig had fought back, throwing the limbs at the soldiers as they advanced on him. He killed one, fought the others, but was quickly overpowered. Feliciano watched as he was dragged to a pyre the Roman's swiftly made, hung upside down, and meant to watch as they tormented his brother further. Feliciano saw that Gilbert was still alive without his limbs or eyes as he was impaled on a spear, lifted high as Ludwig hung low. Gilbert's suffering had finally come to an end. And then the fire came. Ludwig screamed and thrashed in the flames as they engulfed him. Gilbert's torso was quickly joined with him, stuck into the fire upside down as well to burn alongside his brother.
Feliciano covered his eyes and screamed, begging the image to disappear, which it did, and left him in darkness. Ludwig never told him that much of his background. Neither did Gilbert. Did they even know? Did they even remember? If not, then why was he seeing this? What purpose did this serve? For once in his life, Feliciano was grateful for the empty darkness. But the scenes didn't stop there. As he walked through the darkness, pulled by an invisible force, he passed by the other Accursed Nations and their past human lives. It reminded him of a museum with cubicles of artifacts yet they were being played out as if on stage. The next spot he found himself in was a Middle Eastern type room with two men inside, Sadiq and Heracles. Heracles was dressed like a Greek in a short toga with a crown of greens around his head and golden sandals. Sadiq looked much like a Turk of his origin with that white eye mask of his.
'I have done everything to make your life here a comfortable one!' Sadiq hollered at Heracles. 'I give you everything! I teach you how to read and write in your native tongue! I give you full access to my home! I teach you everything that your countrymen refused to offer because you were nothing more than a peasant!'
'I wish you had left me behind that horse with the slave party!'
'What for? To be sold as a fucking slave with no chance at having a life?'
Heracles crossed his arms. 'You keep me here as a slave! I am here for your personal enjoyment because I was the first one to spit in your face!'
Feliciano walked in on them without a word, standing in the middle as they bickered.
'I saved you!'
'I never asked you to! I wish you had left me there!'
'Ignorant fool! How little you know of the world around you! They would have sold you to the salt mines if you weren't beaten to death first! What kind of life is that? You would rather die behind a horses' ass covered in your own filth than accept a possible chance at life that I have given you?'
Heracles gave him a smug smirk. 'I would suffer that end five times over if it meant being away from you!'
'Ungrateful brat that you are!' Sadiq removed his hat and mask. 'You want me to show you what your life COULD have been? You ungrateful little imp?'
'And just what are you going to do? Going to ravish me? Beat me? Scold me like a child? Know this right now, you arrogant jackass! I will see you dead by my hand.'
Sadiq loomed over him. 'Oh, I have no doubts about that! It won't be by your hands, per say, but it will be by your orders! Let me show you just what type of monsters are out there in that world!'
Feliciano didn't need to see anymore. He left Sadiq and Heracles wrestling behind him, ignored the cries of forced sex, and continued on to the next scene. It led him to a very cold climate, on a very cold and snowy day in the middle of Russia, to a dark meeting hall. He saw Ivan seated among a table of many, all dressed in rich attire. He stopped to listen.
'Brother Ivan, you fail to speak.' Said a man. 'Why do you remain silent?'
Ivan just smiled at him.
'Isn't it obvious, brothers?' Asked another. 'He is still on a blood-high! Finding it hard to come down from it, are you?'
Ivan waved his hand in a dismissing manner. 'I take no delight in hearing worthless men screaming in pain. I'd much rather have men who deserve it writhing in my blood-soaked chains as I pull the spine from their cowardly yellow backs.'
'Is that a threat made at us, Ivan?' Asked a third.
'Take it however you'd like, friend.' Ivan remained calm, talking in a sweet heavenly voice. Almost like a child who knew a secret but wouldn't tell. 'Just like the rest of you, I do my Tsar's bidding. I am a loyal servant to the crown. So I make men bleed and suffer in agonizing torment until I get the word to end their miserable lives.'
'But we find it peculiar that the Tsar holds so much faith in a man who tortures lies out of a fellow human!' Said a fourth. 'Men answer to lies to escape torture.'
'That they do.' Ivan opened his arms. 'I only do as I am told, my friends. I know many of the men I torture are innocent, but just like the rest of you, I get paid to lie. Just because you all don't shed blood doesn't mean you aren't equally as guilty.'
Feliciano stood behind Ivan's chair, amazed at how calm and collective the man was.
'Yes, I am a torturer and executioner. Yes, I do get forced confessions out of men at their wits end dripping in their own blood after having been flayed alive. But! It is never by my command, my friends. It is by the command of our Tsar. Any suggestions or complaints you may have, perhaps you should be addressing them to the man in power and not to me.'
'You dare speak to us like that? You, who perhaps has 'more' than the Tsar's ear?'
Feliciano saw Ivan's dark glare at the man who had spoken.
'Nikolas, you are being silly!' Spoke another. 'Everyone knows he spends his nights between the legs of a certain Lithuanian general!'
Ivan smiled then. 'Spying on my bedchamber now, are you? Is it because your wife lies dying in bed with the plague? Her skin covered in yellow pus filled boils? Do you need to get your rocks off by watching someone else do something you have no proof of? Or do you imagine General Toris and I in your mind as you're stroking yourself?'
'Enough!' Shouted another. 'We will hear no more of your vulgar comments, Brother Ivan!'
Ivan stood up from his chair. 'I hope you pray every night that you will never, ever, fall prey to my artistic work of confessions. For I assure each and every one of you that my duty and loyalty is to the Tsar, and not to any of you. Good day, my friends.'
Feliciano left with Ivan, entering into another scene that was a torture chamber with some of the men he had just seen hanging by bloodied chains in various stages of flayed skin and maiming. He had to hurry past Ivan who was wearing a leather apron covered in sticky old blood wielding a sharp object resembling a sling blade. He didn't look back but stumbled into the next scene, consisting of Alfred and his family. He saw Matthew lying in bed, coughing terribly, as Alfred and their father argued.
'We are loyal to the crown of England!' Shouted Alfred's father.
'But we don't need them, father!' Alfred shouted back. 'We can become independent! We can be free of them! Our ancestors left England because-'
'Because we wanted freedom! Yes, that is true, but not all of England is cruel as you make it seem to be, Alfred! You did not grow up there!'
'And you didn't either!' Alfred shouted. 'I have a chance to make things better for my family! I am doing this for Matthew! For you and mother!'
Feliciano saw Alfred's mother crying as she held Matthew's coughing form in her arms.
'Matthew will be dead before we see independence!' Shouted Alfred's father. 'We are loyalists!'
'We are traitors to our countrymen, then!' Alfred flipped over the table. Their mother screamed and shielded Matthew. 'We have a right to be free! Why don't you want that for your family?'
'GET OUT!' Their father shouted. 'GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!'
'NO!' Screamed their mother. "DARLING, CALM YOURSELF! PLEASE!'
'ALFRED!' Matthew reached out for his brother. Alfred wanted to go to him, but their father cut in front and backhanded him. Alfred held his stinging cheek.
'You are no son of mine! If you are not loyal to the crown then you are a traitor! A traitor to this family and to God!' Feliciano watched as their mother fell to her knees and clung to her husband's legs, begging him to spare Alfred.
'I am not a traitor!' Alfred argued. 'I want to make things better for my family! We can be Americans!'
'Shut your mouth!' Shouted their father. 'Shut your heathen mouth!' He backhanded Alfred again.
Feliciano had to cover his ears over both Matthew and their mother's screams of mercy. Alfred was chased out of the house by his father, stumbling off the doorstep and into the dark city street. Alfred looked up at his father. Feliciano looked out from behind the man's shoulder.
'Do you wish to send your brother into an early grave? Do you wish to see him suffer and die by you leaving to fight a war you have no part in?'
'This is for Matthew! This is for you and mother!' Alfred spat back.
'You are no son of mine!' Feliciano moved through the man's form, seeing the angry tears in his blue eyes. 'Never, ever come back here! Should you step foot my doorstep, I will not hesitate to aim my musket at your face. I may have sired you, but by God's blood, I do not have to like you!'
Feliciano watched as Alfred left. The scene changed instantly, and Alfred came back, covered in dirt and blood, to his doorstep. Feliciano followed him back into the house, a very empty and dark house. Alfred found his father sitting alone in front of the fire. Feliciano listened.
'Your brother died shortly after you left.' Said his father flatly. 'He died choking on his own breath. He cried for you. He begged for you. He prayed to God to have Him send you to him in his last dying days. And yet you betrayed him, left him to die alone, without his big brother, so you could fight the crown.'
'I did not wish this upon Matthew.' Alfred answered.
'Your mother died of a broken heart after Matthew died. Your pride has destroyed us. Your pride let your brother die. Your pride let your mother die! Your goddamn pride has doomed this family to Hell for all eternity!'
Alfred started to cry. 'I never wanted this to happen! I just wanted my family to be free!'
'Well now they are dead thanks to your 'freedom'! Get out of my sight! Get out of my house! DEMON! MONSTER! BLASPOMEOR! ANARCIST!'
A shot was heard. Alfred father fell out of the chair, dead, with a musket wound in his forehead.
Feliciano had seen enough. He stepped over Alfred's kneeling form and ignored the Patriot's cries of sorrow. 'I wish to see no more.' He said out loud to no one. 'I wish to wake up from these dreams. I should not be seeing all this. These are not my visions.'
Finally he came upon the last scene, one he wasn't expecting. His eyes widened at the sight of himself and Romano, as young boys, playing in the tiny garden at their house. They were playing with plastic horses their uncle had bought for them. Feliciano smiled at Romano, remembering what he had looked like at this age.
'Stupid horse!' Romano shouted. 'I don't want to play the one sitting down!'
'Veh! But Lovi!' Feliciano's young self whined. 'That one has such pretty colors!'
'I don't want a horse that's sitting down! Give me yours!'
'But I'm playing with it!'
'Give me!' Romano pushed him and took the horse. 'Mine!'
Feliciano wanted to go and comfort his younger self. He remembered this scene. He remembered how Lovino took the horse from him.
'You're so mean!' Little Feliciano cried.
'And you're ugly!' Romano gave him a raspberry, even though they looked alike. Feliciano saw Romano's little head dart towards the right and grow suddenly uncomfortable. 'There it is again!'
'What, Lovi?
'That…that person! The one I always feel watching me!' Romano shuddered.
Feliciano looked in the direction where he was brother was gazing and saw Antonio's angel form watching them from a distance. 'Tony!' Feliciano smiled. 'Our Guardian Angel!' Now he understood all those times Lovino said he felt like they were being 'watched'. It was Antonio all along, just as the angel had said. Another scene flashed before him. It was of the both of them in their bed. Romano woke up, looking around as Antonio's angel form watched him sweetly.
'I'm here for you both.' Antonio whispered. Romano must have heard him, for he dove under the covers to hide.
The next scene was different. Feliciano was looking down into a crib where he and Lovino lay together side-by-side, still babies. Before them stood Antonio looking down at their cradle. Feliciano watched as Antonio lifted a dagger above his head.
'Do not let the Five Accursed Nations assemble!' He whispered under his breath, his hand trembling while holding the dagger. It was Lovi who opened his eyes, looked at Antonio, and laughed a baby's laugh. Antonio melted, and so did Feliciano. He held his hands to his chest as the tears welled up in his amber eyes. He watched as Tony lowered the dagger, smiled, and kissed both their foreheads. 'How could I ever kill you two? So sweet and small, innocent.' Antonio smiled longingly at them. 'Don't worry; I will keep you safe from those demons. They will never get you. I will do all that I can.'
Feliciano saw another light join in the room. It was Roderich.
'Antonio, why do you not raise your dagger? They must be killed, these two.'
'No, they don't have to die. Not if I can keep them from turning to the darkness!'
Roderich shook his head. 'We are not 'guardian angels', we are Light World Warriors.'
Tony nodded. 'We are. I am. I haven't forgotten. But these boys…these innocent babies do not deserve death because of their destiny. I will help to steer them away from their destiny! I will keep them away from the demons so they never have to turn.'
'The Demon Realms will never allow it.'
'It's a risk I'm willing to take.'
'You may die.'
'Then I welcome death.'
Feliciano cried harder at Antonio's words, knowing them to be one hundred percent true. The next scene was the day they met Antonio in the flesh. Antonio approached Romano at the local garden market. Romano flushed. Antonio smiled. "Good morning. I'm Antonio Fernandez. Can I help you carry that? It looks heavy." He was referring to the tomato crate stuffed high with red ripe tomatoes.
The next scene was the car accident. Feliciano knew then that Antonio's soul purpose was to keep them from all this. He gave up his life to keep them safe, but in the end, he chose Lovino over him. Antonio had tried to keep them safe but the Fiends wouldn't have it. Antonio had weakened himself by becoming mortal, allowing his flesh to suffer and die just as a human would.
'The Light World heard my cries.' Antonio said to him, appearing in his full ghostly form beside him. Feliciano looked over at him. 'They spared Lovi's life and took mine instead, but I came back. I still had one trick up my sleeve.'
Feliciano had tears in his eyes. 'Just what happened that night of the accident? Please, tell me.'
Antonio looked at the car crash scene. 'The Fiends. They had a very hard time tracking us, I made sure to keep it that way. However, the found us, but knowing they themselves couldn't kill me, they had a human do it. They made that van crash into us at high speed. They thought I would be dead and out of the way, and that Romano would be dead. If either one of you were dead then that was all the Fiends needed to keep the Five Nations from coming together.'
'And…all those other things I saw?'
'Hidden memories, I think.' Antonio answered calmly. 'Memories of their past that they have forgotten…or someone made them forget.'
Feliciano's eyes widened. 'Do you think the Dark One had something to do with it?'
'I don't know. Wherever we are, we need to get back to Ludwig.'
'But I don't know where I am!' Feliciano said in frustration. 'I don't want to be seeing any of this!'
When the next scene came to him, it was one that he didn't know and didn't recognize. He was back in the apartment above the bakery. He saw himself crossing down the hall and Lovino coming from his room. Feliciano squinted his eyes as they began talking to one another. He couldn't hear what they were saying. Looking at his image he could tell that he was getting angry. Why didn't he remember this? He would remember a fight with Lovi! Was this just another lie? Was this a trick?
'Why do you always have to have everything?' The other him shouted. 'It's not fair, Romano!' He said something in Italian, and then went back to English. He did that sometimes when he was really angry. 'You're so mean and rotten all the time yet you get the best of everything! Why?'
'Shut your stupid fat mouth you jerk! You want a damn lover so bad go out and find one yourself!' His brother shouted back. 'I'm with Antonio! Get over it! If you're jealous then that's just too damn bad!'
His other self was crying angry tears. 'It's not fair! I'm so nice and happy all the time! You're mean a lot! A rotten tomato! That's what you are! And yet you still get the best!'
'Gelosia!' Romano shouted in Italian.
'I AM NOT JEALOUS!'
'YOU ARE! YOU'RE JEALOUS THAT I'M JUST BETTER THAN YOU! STUPIDO!'
Feliciano held his hands to his mouth in pure shock as his other form did the unthinkable. He watched himself shove Romano violently, making his brother fall viciously down the stairs where he broke his neck.
'No! No, it can't be! I would never hurt Lovi! I wouldn't! Tony, you have to believe me!' He started to tremble, clutching at his head and bending forward. 'No…no…no…it's not true! It's not true! It's not true! Just a bad dream! Just a bad dream!'
'DEMON!' Feliciano jerked his head up at the sound of his brother's voice. He saw Romano at the top of his stairs with his head bent backwards at the neck. 'DEMON!'
Feliciano wrapped his arms around himself, grabbing his upper arms and digging his claws into the flesh. 'That's why I'm the demon one! That's why I'm the demon! I'm the demon and he's the angel! I have enough hidden rage in me to murder my own brother!' Feliciano felt the blood falling from his wounds as he dug his claws deeper into his skin. Wide eyed he stared at the dark ground, seeing and hearing nothing. 'I am meant to be a demon…I am meant to be a demon…' He looked up again to see his other form in the bathtub, naked, with the water running and bleeding wrists.
Something touched his shoulder and he screamed. It was Kiku, looking calm and solemn as always with a gentle hand on his shoulder. They silently acknowledged one another, and Feliciano let Kiku lead him out of the darkness.
When he opened his eyes the canopy of his bed was straight above him. The first thought on his mind was Ludwig, so he shot up in the bed and looked around for his lover. "LUDWIG!"
"Sh, calm down." Francis was seated beside him on the bed holding a wet cloth. "Everything's alright now."
"Francis?" He panted out the golem's name. "W-What's happened? Where's Ludwig! Please tell me he's okay?"
Sadiq's voice came next. "Ludwig is being healed right now." The demon lifted an exhausted and limp Kiku into his arms, letting the kitsune's chin rest on his shoulder. "Kiku saw where you both were and we came to get you."
"You gave us a fright." Said Alfred, coming to join the others by the bed. "When we saw the state of Ludwig...we almost couldn't believe it."
Feliciano looked at all of them. "I'm grateful for your help. But please, tell me about Ludwig! Is he all right? Is he going to live?"
Francis shushed him with a small smile, stroking the flushed cheek. "Ludwig is alive. He is currently with Ivan and Gilbert right now. Seere is with them too. They are-"
"Piecing him back together." Alfred said flatly.
"Unnecessary, Alfred." Sadiq scolded, shifting Kiku's form in his arms. "When we found you we had first thought you were having a seizure but Kiku recognized it as a trance. He somehow got inside the trance to free you."
Feliciano promised to thank Kiku later, once he woke up. "Can I see Ludwig?"
"Best not to." Francis urged him back onto the bed. "Rest for now. You have been through a lot. We know you killed Griot. The two Fiends have been on the run. Their presence is hard to find."
"I killed him because he was hurting Ludwig." Feliciano answered seriously. "All I did was latch onto him and didn't let go until he burst into dust."
"That's what we need you to do." Sadiq said with a smile. "Death by hugging."
"Feli," Alfred started. "Ludwig is badly wounded. It will take him a long while to heal properly. I know Ivan and Gilbert are doing the best that they can, but you have to be prepared for Ludwig to be out of operation for awhile."
Feliciano nodded slowly. "Just like Romano…when he was in the hospital." He closed his eyes and let silent tears drip down his face. "I will care for Ludwig in his broken state. So please, take me to him?"
"Not yet." Sadiq shook his head. "Both of you need to rest. There is nothing you can do for Ludwig right now. It's out of your hands. You beat Griot all by yourself. Rest up your strength and power in case we're attacked."
Feliciano thought for a moment and gasped softly. "Can I see Arthur? Can someone bring Arthur in here? I have to speak to him!"
"Of course." Francis said. "I'll fetch him for you." He came back shortly with Arthur, who was finally out of his own trance.
"So you're still in one piece, I see." Arthur said to him as he approached the bed.
Feliciano ignored the comment. "I need to talk with you. Alone."
"We'll be outside if you need us." Sadiq told him, leaving with the others so the two were alone.
Arthur sat on the bed and placed the cool cloth on Feli's forehead. "You're deeply troubled by something. I can see it in your eyes and sense it coming off of you. Want to tell me?"
Feliciano nodded. "When I laid down next to Ludwig's beaten form…I saw some…things. Memories. Forgotten memories. Things I shouldn't have seen."
"Memories? Like what?" Arthur listened to each and every detail Feliciano told him on the visions he saw.
"Why don't you look surprised?" Feliciano gave him a nervous look. "The things I saw…you know about them already, don't you?"
Arthur nodded. "The Dark One told me. I kept it a secret for as long as I have been in It's service. Why those memories were revealed to you I can't understand, but I know of them. Yes, the Dark One kept those parts of their memories a secret. They only know a few bits and pieces."
"But why?" Feliciano sat up in the bed and let the wet cloth drop to his lap. "Why would the Dark One do that?"
"To keep them in control." Arthur answered plainly. "If the Dark One let them keep all their memories then they would have turned fully demon, losing their human parts. However, the Dark One always feared their powers combine, so It took away the most demonic part of them and either replaced it with something less terrible or took it away completely. That way, the Dark One still had control over them because they were partly human. You take Ludwig, for example. He did eat parts of his brother who was still alive. That's something no one would ever do. Sadiq wanted to show his lover how horrible his life would have been as a slave by beating and raping him brutally, something he also would have never, ever done or wanted to do. The human being is a very complex creature. Sometimes we can be so evil that we rival all the demons and angels in the realms."
"What about Gilbert? He isn't one of the Five Nations."
"But he is closely linked with Ludwig. They are very close as brothers. When the Dark One approached Gilbert, he begged to live alongside with Ludwig. I'm not sure exactly what happened between Gilbert and the Dark One, but Gilbert had won."
Feliciano looked down at his claws. "Then…what about the last one I saw? The one of me…pushing Romano…down the stairs and killing him?"
"My guess is that would have been your turning point if the car accident hadn't of happened first. The box of their portraits appeared to me later than I thought. If the car accident never happened you would have gone on to murder your brother and then commit suicide, wherein the Dark One would have changed you then into a demon, the same as the others. However, Antonio had been interfering with your fate and that of your brother by protecting you both. He kept the Fiends radar, as well as my own, away from finding you. The Fiends got to you both first, hence the car accident. That one incident changed everything. Fate had been tampered with, so the Dark One had their portraits given to me to give to you. And you know the rest from there."
Tearful eyes looked to Arthur. "But Antonio would have stopped me from killing Lovi, right?"
"Are you seriously asking that? Antonio couldn't have protected your brother because he would never EXPECT you to murder your own twin!"
"I really am the demon twin!" Feliciano covered his eyes with his arm.
"Do not tell the dukes of their forgotten memories. Whatever you do, you must never, ever tell them. Terrible things may happen to them if their memories are stirred to the truth. Keeping them somewhat human is also what can save this world. Their deaths are in the past now, so let them be. I assure you, it will do more harm than good." Arthur cleared his throat. "But remember, Feli, you are part angel as well. You have more good in you than evil. Remember that." Feliciano didn't answer. "Well, anyway, I have some answers for all of us but there is no rush at the moment. Everyone needs to heal and rest up for a bit now that the Fiends are in hiding."

"Feli…Feli…Feliciano…"
Gilbert pat his brother's fevered head with a cold cloth. 'I fear he's lost to us.' He said in the link to Ivan.
"He is not lost to us." Ivan was sewing together a gaping hole on Ludwig's arm. "But he is badly hurt and it will take a long while for him to recover."
Gilbert frowned heavily, wishing it were himself in Ludwig's place so his brother didn't have to suffer.
"Feli…where…where are…don't hurt him…don't…'
"It's the fever." Ivan stated flatly. "As long as we keep his temperature down we should be okay, in time." He glanced at Gilbert. "You would never look at me like that."
Gilbert turned to him. 'What do you mean?'
"The way you look at Ludwig. You don't look at me the same way. It's a bit insulting."
Gilbert snorted. 'He is my baby brother. I gave up my life for him. I would do anything for him because he is of my blood. I love this demon before us! He is my brother! My little brother.'
"Mmm…Gilbert?" Ludwig stirred awake into consciousness.
'Yes brother! Yes! It's me! Big brother is right here!' Gilbert smiled and took Ludwig's hand.
"Feli. Where is Feli? Bring him to me. I want Feli."
Gilbert frowned. His heart felt heavy and it ached to hear Feliciano's name instead of his. Ludwig wanted his lover now, not his big brother. He wanted Ludwig to find someone, but he didn't want to get pushed out of the picture either! Still, if his little brother wished it, then he would grant it. 'I'll go get him for you.' Sometimes big brothers, just like parents, had to let their fledglings leave the nest.
Ludwig looked past Ivan as he thought back to the scene of Griot turning to dust right before his eyes. Feliciano's power was able to defeat a powerful being such as a Fiend with only a touch. He was pleased with Feliciano's bravery and strength. It took a lot of courage on his mate's end to attack such a frightening being that was doing terrible damage to him. Ludwig couldn't feel his body at all for it was numb, probably done to him to prevent pain. He was only grateful that these wounds happened to him and not to Feli. Seeing his mate broken and bleeding would drive him mad. If anyone ever physically hurt Feli…
"A penny for your thoughts?" Ivan smiled at him.
Ludwig wouldn't share them. "Did you…fix me up?"
Ivan nodded. "I reset your bones and Kiku used a bit of magic to heal them further. You still have a very long way to go until you're walking again. Forget flying as well. Your wings are broken. Just the bones, though." Ivan bit away the extra stitch. "Consider yourself lucky that I was here to piece you back together." Ivan lightly chuckled. "I'm used to patching up the bodies of the tortured. It's an art form, really."
"I thank you for helping me." He gave a low groan. "I feel like shit."
Ivan nodded. "And you look like shit too."
"Mmm…how was Feli…when you found him?"
"Doing something weird, like he was in a trance. It was very strange." Ivan threaded another stitch. "But Kiku pulled him out of it." He lowered the sheet and carefully lifted away a piece of bloody bandage from a deep gash on Ludwig's chest. He began to thread the stitching needle through the skin. "He was quite a sight to behold next to you. His entire tiny body was sprawled across yours, encasing you in a golden glow as he tried to protect you. It was ever so sweet."
"Feli did that?" Ludwig could believe it.
"Yes. We're still having some issues with him, though. He's barely eaten anything in quite a few days. He's looking skinnier. And I'm certain he is pining for you. You have to remind him that he needs to keep up his strength, for there are still two Fiends left out there." Ivan pulled the skin tightly together.
Ludwig watched the threading of the needle while he waited for his lover to appear. After hearing what Ivan had said he wanted nothing more than to see his mate right now. The door opened and his heart beat faster. Painfully lifting his head he saw Feliciano come in as a demon. Instantly there was a smile on his face to see his lover unharmed and well. He reached his one good arm out to him. "Feli…"
"Ludwig!" Feliciano cried loudly as he ran to the bed where Ludwig lay. "Ludwig, you're alive!" He wanted to hug his lover but didn't want to interrupt Ivan's work, so instead he clutched Ludwig's good hand in both of his. "Oh Ludwig…what they did to you…I'm so sorry I could nothing to keep it from happening!"
"Nothing is your fault, Feli." Ludwig said tiredly. "I wouldn't…want them hurting you like this at all. I'm glad it was me."
Feliciano nuzzled Ludwig's hand. "I wish I could make you better." He cried.
"You being here, knowing you are safe, is all that I need." Ludwig coughed and hissed as the movements of his chest pulled at the stitches.
"Are you sick?" Feli asked.
"Fever." Ivan answered. "From all the cuts and broken bones."
Feliciano looked at Ivan stitching up a gash and cleared his throat. "I want to stitch him." He said.
Ivan raised a brow. "You do not know how to mend a broken body."
"Then show me." Feliciano gave Ivan a look of pure determination. "I want to help my lover, my demon mate. Show me how to do it."
"Hm. Very well." Ivan thought it was both amusing and sweet at the same time. "Come over here then." He showed Feli how to properly thread the stitch and the right way to weave it through the skin. Ivan was surprised at how quickly Feliciano had grasped the concept, but was shocked even further when the smaller demon pushed him out of the way.
"I can take it from here. Thank you, Ivan. I'll call for you if I need help."
"Hm. Fine. Saves me some time." Ivan walked out of the room, leaving the two alone.
Ludwig smiled softly through the dull aches of the stitches as Feliciano mended him. "So gentle…every part of you." Feliciano didn't smile. "What's wrong?"
'I can't tell you.' Feliciano said to himself. 'Not all of it.' He pinched the gash skin together and threads the needle through. "I had a sad vision after we both collapsed. I saw that I had murdered my brother. I pushed Lovi down the steps because I was jealous of him always getting the best of everything even though he is meaner than me. I pushed him down the steps and he broke his neck. And then I slit my wrists in the bathtub and committed suicide."
Ludwig stared at him. "Did you…tell this to Arthur?"
"I did. Arthur believes that would have been my fate to become a demon if Antonio and the car crash never happened. That's why I'm the demon twin…I was going to end up killing my own brother. That's terrible to know…that I could murder my own brother!"
"You wouldn't be the first man in history to attempt fratricide."
"But to kill one's brother…like Cain killed Abel."
Ludwig let out a little grunt of pain. "You do what is necessary. Circumstance plays a powerful factor in our decision making…good or bad." He hissed in slight pain. "Ivan tells me you're not eating."
Feliciano shook his head. "I'm just not hungry much these days."
"You are growing thin. It's not healthy. Please eat something soon."
"I eat whatever I can stomach."
"Please…for my sake…try to eat more?"
"I'll try."
He knew basic first-aid so once all the wounds were stitched up he bandaged them. Without asking, he lifted the sheets to look at Ludwig's legs now straightened, bandaged, and braced. Ludwig's broken arm was also set in a brace and sling. The demon's body would be littered in scars and who knows how long the flaying will take to heal. In a way Ludwig looked like a mummy.
"Does it upset you?" Ludwig asked him.
"No. Not the wounds anyway. You being hurt is what kills me the most." Feliciano carefully lay down beside him on the bed. "Are you thirsty?"
Ludwig closed his eyes as he answered. "Yes. There is some wine over there on the table."
"Not for wine…for blood." Blue eyes opened again and looked at him. "Drink my blood to gain some strength. I want you to. Please?"
"I fear I'm too weak to do much for you, Feli."
Feliciano sat up. "Then let me do it for you." Bringing his wrist up to his mouth he bit through the skin, tasting his own blood on his tongue before bringing it to Ludwig's mouth. He felt Ludwig's teeth and lips latch on to his wrist and began to drink from him. Feliciano closed his eyes in bliss, feeling no pain but only a heat of pleasure through his body. In a way, it felt almost nurturing to him, like a mother feeding a newborn babe. Feliciano knew his blood had a strong power to it, a bright and warm life force that other demons sought. Hopefully it would help to heal Ludwig, if at least a little bit. He whined a little when Ludwig removed his mouth from his wrist. "Do you feel any better?"
"Yes…that helped." He licked the blood from his lips. "Your blood tastes different from before. It's stronger in taste and texture." Ludwig smiled softly. "I like it."
Feliciano placed his cheek to Ludwig's forehead, finding it to be completely cool. "You're fever's gone! My blood worked!" He said and wrapped the open cut.
"I wonder if…mating will heal me as well?"
Amber eyes laughed at him. "I thought you were tired and weak!"
Ludwig shifted his eyes to the left. "Only a little. Nothing is wrong with that area. All you have to do is ride me."
"So you want me to do all the work then?"
"Basically."
"Whatever you say." Feliciano wanted to. Maybe it was the fact that he knew they were safe, for now. Or maybe it was because of his blood. Whatever it was, Feliciano was horny and eagerly aching for his lover's cock. It didn't take long for him to lower himself onto the hard erection. If sex could also heal, then Feliciano would make himself go all night. Their bond was growing stronger.

Gilbert leaned himself out one of the castle windows to look upon the city, no quiet in the darkness and sleeping. Rarely were their any lights lit in the city. He couldn't wait to leave this place and get back to the human realm where they could be in charge again. And Ivan would be somewhat normal, making it easier to talk to him and figure out their relationship. But Ivan would have to wait, for right now it was his brother's health that concerned him. Seeing Ludwig hurt like that almost made him go off the deep end. He was already teetering on the edge. Soon he would go bat-shit insane. They had to leave this place.
"Yo." It was Alfred. "You hanging in there?"
Gilbert was surprised Alfred was speaking to him, even if the demon's words lacked emotions. 'I'll be alright once Ludwig is better.'
"How's he doing anyway? I've been with Feli."
'As well as can be expected for the torture he went through. I wish I could take away all of Ludwig's pain.'
Alfred put his hands in his pockets. "Sometimes I wonder if you're not actually in love with your brother. They way you speak of him is how a lover would speak to their mate. Not that it's a bad thing, but one does wonder."
Gilbert turned to him. 'Love between siblings has its own definition. It doesn't mean romantic. Besides, you don't know anything about brotherly love.'
Alfred frowned deeply. "Oh yes I do. You forget that I am also a big brother!"
'But I didn't leave mine behind sick and dying. I stayed with my brother.' He wasn't expecting Alfred to suddenly face him with their noses barely touching.
"I dare you to say that again. Say that again, right now, to my face! I did what I could to save Matthew! I was fighting for his freedom!"
'I would have stayed with him because he was ill and dying. I didn't let Ludwig die alone.' He wasn't going to back down to some punk demon like Alfred.
"You Beilschmidts always manage to screw things up for me! Both of you have always been in my way!"
Gilbert shoved him gently. 'Ludwig didn't hold a knife to your throat that night when you were together. You were a willing participant.'
"But he did that with no intention of following through! That was my virginity he took that night, and then he just tossed me out of bed like I was used up brothel whore! That was your 'precious' little brother!" Alfred shoved him back.
Gilbert shoved him again. 'And if you recall I scolded him greatly for that! Or have you forgotten?'
"I'm still waiting for a true apology from him, but I know I'll never get one because he doesn't think he did anything wrong."
'I did stand up for you, Alfred. I did. Don't forget, you were fawning all over him and flirting like a tavern wench. What was he supposed to think?'
"I'm not having this argument again!"
"What argument is that?" Ivan asked as he joined them, folding his hands together.
'We're talking about Ludwig, that's all.'
Alfred nodded. "How he's a jerk and all."
Gilbert growled.
"Stop it, the both of you. We all love or hate Ludwig in our own way. That's no reason to be fighting one another."
'As if you're one to talk.' Gilbert turned away from him.
Ivan looked at both of them, even Alfred, who also turned away from him. "Like I said before, we have an eternity to figure it all out."
"I already say 'no'." Alfred stated plainly. "But I'm still mad at you for stringing us along all this time. Or maybe I'm really mad at myself for letting this happen."
'I just want Ludwig to get better.'
"Gilbert, Ludwig has Feliciano now. You're free to go your own way, you know. You can live your-" He tilted his head when Gilbert started crying, noticing the tears when the demon turned to look at him.
'Ludwig is really all that I have. Now he has Feliciano…he won't need me.'
Alfred furrowed his brows, turning back to the other two. "He will need you, Gilbert. You're still his brother."
"Alfred is right. Don't talk of such foolish things."
'Please, Ludwig, just get better.' He walked away from the others.
Alfred crossed his arms. "He's going to fall apart soon. Figuratively, that is."
"Well, I'm here to pick up the pieces." He turned to Alfred. "The same with you. Both of you know where my chamber is."
Alfred watched him leave in silence.
End Chapter 24 TBC
- 24
- 25
- 26
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Utopia