Oliver tapped his pen on his desk.
"You aren't getting anywhere."
"I might be, soon..."
"I don't want soon, Oliver, I want now. We don't have time for things to go slowly at this rate."
"I'll try somthing different on him, I have an idea..."
"Good. I trust you won't need, convincing, to do whatever it takes on him?"
"Of course not."
He shuddered at the thought of Luciano's sweet but threatening voice that dripped like poisonous honey.
He sighed, sitting up and reaching forward, his delicate fingers closing around the syringe. He stared at it, infusing a bit of magic into it. The black coloured magic swirled into the clear liquid. His blue eyes were dark with thought.
Whatever it takes, I suppose.
____________________________________
Arthur came down the stairs the following morning, yawning as he walked into the kitchen. He was hardly surprised to see Feleciano sitting at the island, hanging onto Ludwig's arm.
"Ciao, Arthur!" He said, his honey like voice announcing his arrival. His curl bounced when he smiled as the Brit grumbled in response. Arthur flicked his gaze towards the clock on the wall. 10:43. He sighed and sat down, grabbing a mug of coffee.
Another late morning.
It was becoming increasingly frequent for him to sleep in now, unlike his usual scheduled self. To many nights not being able to sleep until 12, only to wake up at 2 am in a cold sweat.
He fumbled with the waistcoat he had left on the floor after drinking some coffee, trying to pull it over his white shirt. Feliciano spoke up after watching him.
"Hey, Arthur~ where did you get those bruises on your chest?" Feliciano's caramel eyes had spotted the ripples of purple bruises underneath the thin-ish material of the crisp white shirt.
"Oh." Arthur said, buttoning up the waistcoat over them. "I get those during the experiments Oliver conducts."
There was a quiet but collective gasp around the room. Gilbert whispered,
"He beats you?"
"No no, its actually my own magic that injures me. It's so that the mental strain isnt too much, whatever pain overflows gives a small backlash on my own body. It's nothing to worry about really." Arthur said nonchalantly, buttering some toast.
Ludwig flicked a concerned gaze to Gilbert. Arthur took a large bite of toast, then placed it back on his plate. He plucked up his coffee mug and stood up, swivling towards the door.
"I'm going to get some work done before I have to go."
Feliciano grabbed forwards and held Arthur's sleeve. "But you hardly ate anything..."
Arthur gave the Italian a small smile. "Its ok I'm not hungry." He tugged his sleeve away and walked to the living room, where the paperwork sat on the desk.
That's becoming a little too frequent too.
__________________________________
It was often like this. Arthur had work imported to the cottage from England every other day. He said he needed to keep busy when Ludwig had suggested he rests. He had said he needed to be distracted. Ludwig had indeed noticed that whenever the Brit just sat down, he would fidget, or get a glazed expression in his eyes; and was surprised how much Arthur could get done when he was focused. Which, when doing paperwork, managed to be all the time.
Arthur would wake up, grab a coffee, and then do work until he had to go at 12. He would come back and head to his room, looking exhausted. Some evenings he would come down the stairs to talk with whoever was there, or simply to retrieve more papers. Some days nobody would see him until the following morning. Most days Ludwig called somone in the evening, speaking to them in a low and quiet voice. Arthur had never bothered to ask who he called.
__________________________________
A few days later Arthur stepped through the mirror, waiting for Matt to tell Ludwig who would come for him.
Today Ludwig flicked his eyebrows up in surprise when he heard.
Arthur walked behind Matt along the symmetrical corridors. He didn't bother making conversation. They reached the door and Arthur was left alone; he stepped into the office.
Oliver was stood by the desk, flicking some papers around the surface, and humming to himself. It made Arthur's stomach roil to see him so lighthearted.
"Oh! Good morning Arthur, how are we today?"
Arthur ignored him and walked through the door to the experiment room.
"Let's get this over with." He rolled up his sleeve to his bicep.
"Okay! So we are going to be trying something a little different today," Oliver walked beside the bed, grinning and flicking the syringe. Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"Different how?"
"Oh I'm not sure exactly, I never am, but hopefully somthing to delve a little deeper into how your magic reacts!"
Arthur was about to say something else but Olver quickly plunged the needle into his outstretched arm.
"See you in a couple of hours!" He said as Arthur's eyes rolled up into his head, falling back onto the bed.
_____________________________________
Arthur gasped awake in a dark setting. He could see a dim light in the distance, and walls and bars in front of him. He could feel everything though, unlike in Oliver's previous experiments. He tried to get up from where he sat in this cell, but found his body was achingly exhausted. A cold set in his bones.
Where am I? The cell looked familiar. His head throbbed with recognition but he couldn't fully remember where he was. He tried to get a better bearing of where he sat.
The ache in his body. He was clearly exhausted, and weak from malnourishment. The setting. He had been in many jail cells, but these seemed to wrack in his brain.
Wait. Was that...
A familiar dripping sound was coming from somewhere.
Drip, drip, drip drip drip, drip...
Arthur's mouth went dry. He looked down at what he was wearing. His blood chilled and his heart hammered as he saw his old World War 2 military uniform.
Please no please no please no please no.
He tried to calm his voice and listen to voices he heard at the end of the hall.
I can't be back here.
Don't worry, you have no confirmation, you were kidnapped many times in the war, now listen to the guards. You arent even sure if they are-
"Diese Prisioner sind nutzlos. Es gibt nur einen, den wir tatsächlich brauchen ..."
German.
Arthur's blood ran cold as he realised where this cell was familiar from.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to wake up from this horrific memory, trying to get back to when he didn't remember this fully.
I can't loose myself again.
He started hyperventilating as he heard boots coming towards his cell. A Nazi guard threw it open.
"Get up, schmutz." He said in a deep, accented voice.
"No, no I can't, no-"
"Help him up."
Two more guards came into his cells as he screamed and writhed, lifting him up and dragging him out.
"Shut. Up." the first guard said. When Arthur didn't stop screaming, each breath ripping his throat raw, the guard spun suddenly and punched him in the gut.
"Do as you're told." He laughed with the other soldiers, saying, "Sieht so aus, als ob jemand heute unbedingt anfangen möchte!"
He smirked at a now limp Arthur, his grey steely eyes marking a shadow over Arthur's soul.
"Let's hurry and get started then."
______________________________________
Whoop whoop another chapter. Your gonna love all the suffering that happens next. I'm thankful to anyone who actually bothers to read this. Here are some translations:
Ciao: hello
Sieht so aus, als ob jemand heute unbedingt anfangen möchte:
Looks like somone is eager to get started today
Schmutz: filth
Diese Prisioner sind nutzlos. Es gibt nur einen, den wir tatsächlich brauchen ...:
these prisoners are useless. There is only one that we really need...