[fanfic] the switch - 04
Title: The Switch - Chapter 04
Author: silentside
Characters: F/A/C/E
Note/Warning: Based on this very random update of the same title here and now few days later...orz
- There is an OC nation.
- Young Francis being...young.
- Pierre vs. Kumajiro
00 - Prologue
01 - Don't Drink and Hex
02 - Make over
03 - For Your Own Good
I know there is an author tag. But this is easier XD
Summary: In his drunken rage, Arthur placed a spell on Francis, causing him to de-age by half a millennia. However there is a side-effect: His son Matthew Williams matured 500 years ahead of his time. Hilarity and chaos ensue.
The Switch
{ Chapter 04 - Don't Forget the First Rule }
A/N: This fic serves to be my 'stress reliever' while I'm taking a writing break on my doujinshi collab, an APH-FACE saga titled Notre Priere (Our Prayer) and I have to finish one arc before getting on this one and well, if you guys read the epilogue that I posted here...that's just barely 1/16th of the entire thing orz
Also added another OC. I won't be writing much on them here, only when it's uh necessary. Anyway I will write a note to explain everything. Meanwhile, enjoy!
----
As soon as they arrived home, Arthur was out like a light, exhausted at the events that transpired that day. And what a day it had been, waking up from a vicious hangover with little memory or whatever happened last evening; only to discover later on, to his horror that he has placed a hex on Francis-a spell he does not even know and that the frog somehow passed it on to Matthew. The poor boy already had his share of problems, being always mistaken as Alfred and now he had to deal with the sudden maturity his body isn't prepared for, ageing by at least half a millennia.
Then of course, he also had to deal with a de-aged Francis, which proved to be more of a chore than meeting up with his short-tempered older brother who he haven't spoken to in ages. Arthur had to bring Alfred along as well, as he is the one who have witnessed first-hand what he did before waking to up to all this chaos.
Then Alfred just had to be charmed by the youthful appearance of that hedonistic prick.
"mm...fault...mrmm...wanker...zz..." Arthur mumbled, face planting on the sofa as soon as they arrived, falling sound asleep within minutes. The bespectacled blond observed him quietly for a while, mussing his father figure's hair lightly before standing up and taking his leave.
"'Night, dad." Alfred whispered quietly as he left the room.
----
Back in Matthew's house, the following morning.
"Wake up...Papa..."
Francis wearily rubbed his eyes. He had the strangest dream, that Arthur placed a spell on him, causing him to de-age by hundreds of years and his fils, Mathieu in turn had a sudden development spurt. He was impressed about the turn of events for his dear Mathieu- he is aware that the lad has inherited his gorgeous looks, but he didn't expect him to look almost like him, if not, better.
As his eyes flew open, he brought his hands and arms to his face. They were slender, smaller and virtually hairless, just like that of a child.
No, it wasn't a dream. And the events that transpired yesterday start coming back to him, the adventure he and Mathieu had as they shopped for clothes together, watching Angleterre's face change into varying colors in quick succession and also regretting why he even bothered hexing Francis in the first place. A small smile curved on the blonde's lips.
"Why, bonjour gorgeous." He purred, seeing his concerned son's rugged face in front of him. Matthew happens to be half-naked, wearing only his pajamas bottom. Francis then looked down and then noticed he is wearing a dress shirt and he is in his son's bed. He didn't recall falling asleep in these clothes.
"Bonjour, Papa." Mathieu answered, noticing that Francis is suddenly perplexed, looking around and wondering why he is in different clothes. "You fell asleep on top of Kumajiro last evening after dinner, I can't leave you there or he will crush you."
"I fell asleep...on your bear?" He gasped, remembering how Kumajiro grew in fearsome size. "Why would I do zat? I don't even recall going near that animal! Around what time did I fell asleep?"
"Before seven at least." Matthieu chuckled softly, "Right after Dad and Alfred left, you said you'll watch tv, but you can't keep your head up and you told me you're going to the bathroom to wash your face-but you got so sleepy, that you ended up falling asleep on my bear."
Francis's eyes widened, he didn't even remember there is a napping polar bear near the living room. He covered his face in embarrassment, just imagining himself passed out on the creature. "Mon dieuuu. I got knocked out that early?" he cried, "Ez the chinese food, wasn't it? I knew it!"
"Papa, its MSG- free." Matthew sighed, "You were tired." He pointed out, "Yes, you can burn calories faster with that body, but the downside is, you tire easily as well." Francis starts to move around uncomfortably. "Your body is that of a child after all."
He pouted, getting off the bed. "And you get to stay up late? Hm?"
"Well, for a reason" Matthew shrugged, as Francis heads into the bathroom. "After tucking you to bed last night, your phone rang so I answered it. Turns out, the rest of the other things you ordered from yesterday is delivered straight to your place, so I have to drive over there to get them."
"My dear, you don't have to go to all that trouble for my clothes~!" Francis called out, washing his face as Mathieu waited outside.
"Well yes, but also most of them is food." Matthew pointed out, "Remember all the pastries you ordered before we went home? Well they'll spoil if I leave them there. They won't fit in your fridge so I had to bring some here."
"Ah, I see! Merci!"
"You're welcome." Matthew replied, as his little Papa emerged from the bathroom patting his face dry, his hair pulled tight and neatly in a high ponytail. It made him look like a young girl. "Oh, since you are staying here for a while, I brought Pierre too!"
Francis paused, looking up alarmed, "-ez he in the living room?"
"Well, yeah..."
"But what about ze bear?" he panicked.
"Papa, you do know I have Kumajiro for the longest time! He won't eat him!" He followed his worried Papa rushing downstairs. He let out a sigh of relief to see his pet safe and sound, in its cage and far away from the large cumbersome polar bear.
"Do you know he can remember my name now?" Matthew mused, as Francis tiptoed to check on his pet, a white bird with an unusually large head. "It never happened before! By the way, I hope you didn't mind that I prepared breakfast."
Francis placed Pierre back in the cage and skipped towards the table. He stared at the food prepared on his plate.
Pancakes.
Four slices of large buttermilk pancakes, topped with a rather large sunny side up egg, sided by two slices of buttered up whole wheat toast and complimented by two sausage patties.
Francis could almost feel the cholesterol arteries clogging at the sight of it, but his stomach emitted a loud growling sound, the scent that whiffed toward his direction is just so...delicious.
"See, you're already hungry." Matthew smiled, ruffling his Papa's golden locks before heading across the opposite side and sitting down. Francis is still frozen and stared at his son's plate: It was stacked twice the amount of food than he had, and beside him is a big bottle of maple syrup.
But of course, he knows how his Matthew loves his maple syrup. But all that amount of food...
"You can't have zat!" he gasped, just as Matthew squeezed a generous amount on his pancakes. "Your body, mon dieu! You know what will happen!"
"Papa..." Matthew sliced through the layers, forking a big piece. "It's okay! It's breakfast! I'll burn this throughout the day! It will be hard if I starve myself. After all, breakfast is-"
"The most important meal of the day!"
Matthew almost sprayed the juice from his mouth and Francis turned around, standing by the room's entrance is Alfred, beaming widely with a smile as bright as sunshine.
"Bro!" Matthew rubbed his mouth with the back of his palm, "H-how, when did you get in here?"
"Alfred!"
"The hero can go anywhere he wanted." he grinned widely, but Matthew looked unimpressed. "I'm kidding. You gave me a spare key before remember?"
"Well, that's still no reason to suddenly come uninvited." Matthew grumbled, noticing Alfred is getting distracted by the sight of his pouting little Papa. "You could have at least called-will you put Papa down!"
"Man, I thought we were tight and besides..." Alfred carried Francis, bouncing him on the crook of his right arm. Matthew frowned when his Papa snuggled his face underneath his brother's chin, making a purring sound. "...I took my car in the car wash after what happened the other day and, waa...will you look at that!"
"Stop that, Papa." Matthew said flatly, placing his utensils neatly on the table.
"Stop what, fils?"
Matthew stood up from across the table and moved forward, his brows knotted in a frown. Francis is undeterred by his move and snuggled even closer to Alfred. Unbeknownst to him however, Alfred silently signaled his brother to hush, and with his one free hand, took out a small metal band from his pocket and quickly snapped it to Francis's ankle.
"Waah!" he gasped, quickly releasing himself from Alfred's embrace. He inspected the band on his ankle. "What ez this?" he demanded, sitting on the floor trying to wring the item off. It locked on tight and it seemed the only way to remove it is by typing a 4-digit code.
Alfred scratched the back of his head, "Sorry! Dad's orders!" He saw Francis's face puff, giving him a betrayed look. "Hey, don't look at me like that! He just wants to keep an eye on you. He can't call Matt all the time!"
"Does he not trust me?" giving Alfred a sad wounded look, like a puppy that's been kicked over the curb. Knowing well what his Papa was up to, Matthew plucked him from where he is sitting with ease.
"Ahh! Mathieu!" he struggled briefly in his arms, before being forcibly placed down on his chair.
"Papa, Dad is doing this for your own good until he finds a cure." he pointed out, pushing his breakfast plate. "Can we just have breakfast in peace, please?" Matthew then turned towards his brother, "Can you hold Papa until he..."
"Non!" he lifted both hands, before Alfred can even touch him. "I can do this by myself, I will eat your cooking-after all you are my-" Francis never got to finish his sentence, his words getting garbled as he starts to wolf down the stack of pancakes and eventually he silently consumed everything without uttering a single word.
"Wow, your old man really likes your cooking!" Alfred said in amusement, as Matthew silently led him to the living room, while his Papa was distracted. "He usually criticizes anything he did not cook, so yeah, what's up?"
"Any news from Dad yet?"
"Hm, nope." Alfred shrugged, "When I dropped him at his place last night, he gave me this device and then he is out like a light! But I think he will do something about it this morning, he called me up to-" he checked his watch, "-be there by 9 am."
"Alfred," Matthew sighed, "Its quarter to nine. I doubt you can even make it there on time even without the traffic."
"Yeah, which is also why I'm here." the bespectacled blond smiled, "Can I borrow any of your rides? I think I mentioned it earlier that I took mine to the car wash."
"What about the one you were driving yesterday?"
"That was Dad's~"
"Ah, I see." Matthew reached out in his back pocket for keys. He tossed them to his brother. "The jeep is in front of the garage. I had it cleaned yesterday after you guys left. You can use it."
"Sweet! Thanks!" Alfred caught the keys, "And Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"You really need to shave, man. The resemblance is creeping me out!"
Matthew frowned, he is aware of the hair growth on his body and on his face. He didn't have the time to shave his face last evening. "I'm aware of that; I'll get to it later. And besides..." Matthew turned around, he can see his Papa has finished his meal and is heading to the fridge. "-I can't have Papa eat that much, he's now going for...the sweets!' Alfred chuckled as he watched his brother briskly walk towards Francis, who was about to lay his hands on a small box of pastries. The tall blond was quick to remind his Papa about getting hyper with all the sugar, and the latter argued he might as well take advantage of eating what he can while still in his young form. It's an amusing spectacle to watch, as Matthew was quick to adapt to his role of a concerned 'father' to his, for now, 'younger' father figure.
"Okay guys, I better get going!" Alfred grabbed a banana from the fruit basket nearby and headed towards the garage. "Matt if you need anything, you know what to do! I'll update you if anything comes up!"
"A-alright!" Matthew struggled as his Papa threw a fit, "See you!"
----
It was almost 10 am by the time Alfred arrived in Arthur's house.
Oh man, he will be so pissed. Alfred said to himself licking his lips nervously as he stood in front of the doorstep. He is aware how Arthur is when it comes to punctuality. He pressed the doorbell and wait for the tongue lashing that was about to come.
Well, he can always point out that it was his fault, Alfred thought. If he didn't throw up in his car, he won't have to borrow Matt's vehicle on the way here.
Just when Alfred was about to press the doorbell another time, the door opened.
"Yes?"
Alfred blinked a couple of times, he never have seen Arthur this pleasant when he arrives at his house. "Well, somebody is in a good mood today!"
The smaller blonde's brows furrowed. "I beg your pardon?"
Alfred paused, not expecting the confused reaction. But there is something definitely strange with his Father figure today. He looks the same old Arthur, but his hair seems to look much fluffy than it should be. "Uh, after what happened yesterday?" He raised a brow suspiciously, "Dad?"
The man in front of him let out a weary sigh, "Arthur." he called out, eyeing Alfred from head to toe and then straight to his eyes. The American noticed the unusual thickness of his accent. "Your Alfred is here."
Alfred gawked, his mouth hanging from his jaw as he tries to form words from his mouth. That is not Arthur? He removed his glasses and rubbed the lenses clean, just to be sure. When the blond turned around to leave, Alfred noticed that the tips of his hair are wavy and a wee bit longer: it is tied from behind into a small ponytail.
As he put back his glasses, he saw Arthur finally heading toward his direction, looking somehow flustered and irate. "Alfred!" he started, his sleeves rolled up as wipe his arms with some washcloth. "Where have you been? You are late!"
Now, that's the Arthur he knew.
Alfred pointed at the man who just left and was heading towards a neat stack of books the the living room table. "Wait, did I-?"
"Yes, your uncle is here, Cymru." Arthur grumbled, closing the door behind them. "I can't believe you act like you never met him before."
"Dad, I swear I thought it is you!" Alfred gasped, as they walked inside. "I get the two of you confused most of the time!"
"It's common with brothers." Arthur's brother answered, overhearing their conversation as they approached him. "And it's also why I keep my hair to this length." he paused briefly, "Hmm, Matthew? No, silly-he is Alfred! Why yes, they also do look alike! "
Alfred stopped, looking perplexed. "Wait, what?"
Arthur's brother chuckled softly; he is talking to a presence not visible to his eye. Alfred almost forgot that he also had his share of imaginary friends just like Arthur.
"This is a serious matter, Haydn" Arthur said curtly, approaching his brother, taking out a small sack underneath the table. Alfred watched Arthur argue with the invisible creatures and tries to shoo them, much to no avail. "Do you have to bring them as well?"
"You asked for my aid, didn't you?" He replied, lifting his gaze from the browning pages of a weathered, leather-bound book to the small sack Arthur placed on top of the table. "You don't have to worry. They won't interfere." Alfred watched as Haydn turned his attention to a blank space on Arthur's right, pointing on it. "I'm more worried about, that."
Alfred watched for a while as the two argued briefly over their 'invisible' companions, when he felt the two have settled their argument, he cautiously approached them.
"Dad...?"
There is a cough.
"Oh, sorry!" Alfred faced the other, "Dad!"
Arthur's brow twitched, while his brother merely chuckled and went back browsing through the book of spells. "You git, can you not really tell us apart?"
"Uh, you're both wearing light green sweater vests."
"Arthur is wearing yellow green." Haydn pointed out, "I'm wearing a darker shade of chartreuse."
"Yeah, but it's still both light green."
Arthur grumbled in response, knowing that the description will just make no difference when it comes to Alfred, and so he just resigned to removing his own sweater vest so he can tell them apart..
"Ah, that's much better!" Alfred grinned, not noticing the annoyed look in Arthur's face. "So Uncle, what's the plan?"
"We are trying to figure out what your Father exactly did and we can take it from there." He replied calmly, "Is this the only book you borrowed from James?"
"Yes." Arthur grumbled, recalling vividly that the book itself flew past his head when he 'borrowed' it. "Do you...need the entire volume?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. You did mention it had something to do with time and balance, correct? I think you need to be more specific, it might take more than this book." He glimpsed at Arthur's face, noticing its changing colors. "Alright, I will go ask him myself if we will need more than this. For now, can you show me what you used for the incantations?"
Arthur opened the sack and poured the contents on the desk. There wasn't much: There are few pieces of candles, some fabric, chalk, folded papers with intricately drawn circular patterns. He drew them from the one he did at the attic, Arthur explained, it's originally one large circle but he was able to deduce it coming from three different patterns after doing some research in the library. Arthur went towards the nearby shelf behind his brother and took out a couple of books, all of them bearing small folded papers tucked in several pages within their spines.
"Hold it." Haydn finally spoke, inspecting the candles. Arthur looked up, with the books in hand. "You used these candles?"
"They were there half-burnt when I woke up, so yes, I did use them." he answered dryly, placing the books on the table. "Why?"
"You used red and white!" Haydn pointed out, holding the candles and shaking it in front of him. "During a full moon nonetheless!"
"I-it was full moon?" Arthur sputtered, his face slowly growing red. "That evening?"
"Yes, it was. I'm not surprised that you are not aware of it." his brother answered, "You should know better than to cast spells in such an intoxicated state! Now look at your predicament right now."
"So uh..." Alfred finally spoke, "What is with the candle's colors and full moon?"
"Ah!" Haydn looked up to the confused Alfred. "As you can see, each color correspondence must always be taken in consideration when creating and casting magic spells."
"Uh, for what?"
Arthur rolled his eyes, "You really don't have to explain everything to him, Haydn."
"It's alright." Haydn replied, "Didn't Arthur explain the basics of spells to you?"
"He never really had interest when it comes to matters like these to begin with!" Arthur argued, not wanting for his brother to continue any further. "Isn't that right, Alfred?"
"Well yeah, Dad is right. I'm not really interested when it comes to this magic stuff." Alfred answered, "I don't believe in that kind of thing, but my bro got affected with it along the way and I really want to do anything I could to help."
Haydn looked at his brother with complete disbelief, "You even got Matthew affected? I thought the only one you hexed is Francis!"
"It was an accident!" Arthur can feel his cheeks heating up once more. "Whatever spell I cast upon that frog, he somehow passed it on to him through physical contact."
Haydn lifted an eyebrow, "Physical contact?"
"Francis slapped Matt on the bum." Alfred answered for Arthur, "So uh, what does the colors, candles and stuff have to do with the curse Dad placed upon them?"
"It's a spell." Haydn corrected him, "Colors, symbols and scents are important parts of every magic spell as they stimulate the senses and set the overall ambiance. Proper use of these key elements contributes to the effectiveness of every spell and ritual." he continued, presenting the half-burned candles to Alfred as he explains everything as elementary possible. "Your father used red and white candles."
"And...what does it mean?"
"Red chiefly represents passion, love, strength, will power and it increases magnetism in a ritual." he held out the white ones, "And this, represents the balance of all colors. It's effective for spiritual enlightenment, purification, healing, truth-seeking-"
Arthur does not like where the conversation is going, "Haydn!"
"And it's also used in rituals that draw in lunar energy." He concluded, eyeing the reddening Arthur disapprovingly. "Unfortunately, your Father decided to use both of these candles under a full moon, where the effectiveness of spell casting is at its most potent."
"Oh wow, ouch." Alfred answered as he starts to process everything that he heard, trying to connect the dots: The color red for love and passion, Arthur placing a spell on Francis-there is no denying the history the two had together. He cannot place where the white color will fit in though.
"So Dad," He finds himself asking Arthur, "What was it that the two of you fought about at that time?"
"I told you before, I can't remember!"
"But this might make you remember though." Haydn remarked, looking at the set of candles that he finally sets down the table, pondering about what it could be as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, something must have happened ages ago that you haven't resolved with Francis up to now. He probably did something as of late that triggered that memory and it upsets you, probably enough to get yourself drunk, but that's just me. And knowing the relationship you both have, you just had to do something to remind him of that."
Arthur was sputtering at his loss for words as Alfred gawked in silent amazement. His uncle was able to deduce that by basing it on the colors used for spell casting?
"You haven't thought of that?" He asked Arthur, "The colors you used is already a dead giveaway, and it involves Francis." he lifted at the piece of fabric, "This happens to be his handkerchief am I right?"
Arthur nodded silently and Alfred let out a gasp. "Ah! Oh I remember that night. Dad was like, about to tear Francis apart so I had to pull him off. He must have taken that from his breast pocket while he was mumbling weird stuff."
"Oh? Weird stuff you say?" Haydn inquired as Arthur resigned to the chair behind him. "Arthur, is this where you told me you remember a part of the incantation before casting the actual spell on Francis?"
"Yes, it is..." Arthur grumbled, his color having subsided, pondering on the words his brother have told him. "I've written what I remembered... " He pointed at the small stack of books he took out, "-and I made notes as well."
"Maybe I can help with that," Alfred suggested, "I think I can remember some of Dad's ramblings when I tried to pry him off. It's pretty much uh...a lot."
"That would be most helpful," Haydn smiled, clapping his hands together. "Try to write what you can remember hearing, we will take it from there."
"Sure!" Alfred grinned, "This is cool, we're all making improvement!" he raised a high five towards Arthur who merely glared at him. Alfred laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head. "Haha...who knew it could get this complicated though."
"Alfred, it's not like you can wish everything back with a swish of a magic wand." The older Kirkland continued, noticing his brother's brow twitch. "You can't be careless with spell casting, there are laws to follow or else there will be grave consequences. This is why we need to figure this out as soon as possible. When it comes to rituals like these, you cannot gain anything without first giving something in return."
"To obtain, something of equal value must be lost-" Arthur finds himself saying. "Something will happen...oh bollocks, the first rule."
"Yes, the first rule." His brother went around him, giving him a light head slap. "Now you must try to recall what triggered you to cast a spell on Francis! I already gave you a head start, now all we need is to look at these notes and incantations you gave me for additional clues."
"So this spell, is this really a serious one, like a matter of life and death spell?"
"As of this moment, I'm afraid I have no clue." Haydn replied, his brows furrowing as he pored over the illustrations. He resembles Arthur more with that kind of frown. "But while we all try to figure this out, it's better to keep an eye on them."
"Alfred," Arthur sighed wearily as he stood up, approaching him. "You've been to your brother's place, how are they?"
"They're alright for now; they were having a lively morning chat over breakfast when I got there." Alfred replied, "I placed the tracking device on Francis just like what you told me to do and Matt will call if anything get weird."
"That's good...jolly good." Arthur nodded, patting his son's shoulder as he wearily walked past him. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I'm going upstairs...there might be something else that I might have missed."
Alfred watched as Arthur silently headed upstairs and towards the attic, where the source of all the current chaos begun.
"If he didn't come back here in half an hour, you better check on him." Haydn pointed out, his eyes not leaving the piece of paper he has been studying for some time. "He might find something that can be useful to us and I feel like your Father is not telling me something."
Arthur does look visibly shaken and a little pale when he left them, Alfred noticed.
"Did dad mention to you about the bad dream he had last night?" He wondered out loud.
====
Notes: Haydn - OC: Wales. I only borrowed the namesake from Candesceres's OC (I'm running out of ideas at this time OTL), she writes the best developed country OCs and I learned lots from it. I based Wale's appearance from a pixiv fan art here :D which showed him resembling Arthur up front, with only slight differences such as having a longer and tied hair.
About the magic and color correspondence: these are just the basic stuff that I come across on reading novels and browsing some Wiccan sites. I really don't know that much and I will keep the details about the spell itself vague.
I also blame this fan art once more for this uncalled for fic 8|
Also to dear anon who answered my fic request thing-o
young francis x victorian arthur plz :D
Author: silentside
Characters: F/A/C/E
Note/Warning: Based on this very random update of the same title here and now few days later...orz
- There is an OC nation.
- Young Francis being...young.
- Pierre vs. Kumajiro
00 - Prologue
01 - Don't Drink and Hex
02 - Make over
03 - For Your Own Good
I know there is an author tag. But this is easier XD
Summary: In his drunken rage, Arthur placed a spell on Francis, causing him to de-age by half a millennia. However there is a side-effect: His son Matthew Williams matured 500 years ahead of his time. Hilarity and chaos ensue.
The Switch
{ Chapter 04 - Don't Forget the First Rule }
A/N: This fic serves to be my 'stress reliever' while I'm taking a writing break on my doujinshi collab, an APH-FACE saga titled Notre Priere (Our Prayer) and I have to finish one arc before getting on this one and well, if you guys read the epilogue that I posted here...that's just barely 1/16th of the entire thing orz
Also added another OC. I won't be writing much on them here, only when it's uh necessary. Anyway I will write a note to explain everything. Meanwhile, enjoy!
----
As soon as they arrived home, Arthur was out like a light, exhausted at the events that transpired that day. And what a day it had been, waking up from a vicious hangover with little memory or whatever happened last evening; only to discover later on, to his horror that he has placed a hex on Francis-a spell he does not even know and that the frog somehow passed it on to Matthew. The poor boy already had his share of problems, being always mistaken as Alfred and now he had to deal with the sudden maturity his body isn't prepared for, ageing by at least half a millennia.
Then of course, he also had to deal with a de-aged Francis, which proved to be more of a chore than meeting up with his short-tempered older brother who he haven't spoken to in ages. Arthur had to bring Alfred along as well, as he is the one who have witnessed first-hand what he did before waking to up to all this chaos.
Then Alfred just had to be charmed by the youthful appearance of that hedonistic prick.
"mm...fault...mrmm...wanker...zz..." Arthur mumbled, face planting on the sofa as soon as they arrived, falling sound asleep within minutes. The bespectacled blond observed him quietly for a while, mussing his father figure's hair lightly before standing up and taking his leave.
"'Night, dad." Alfred whispered quietly as he left the room.
----
Back in Matthew's house, the following morning.
"Wake up...Papa..."
Francis wearily rubbed his eyes. He had the strangest dream, that Arthur placed a spell on him, causing him to de-age by hundreds of years and his fils, Mathieu in turn had a sudden development spurt. He was impressed about the turn of events for his dear Mathieu- he is aware that the lad has inherited his gorgeous looks, but he didn't expect him to look almost like him, if not, better.
As his eyes flew open, he brought his hands and arms to his face. They were slender, smaller and virtually hairless, just like that of a child.
No, it wasn't a dream. And the events that transpired yesterday start coming back to him, the adventure he and Mathieu had as they shopped for clothes together, watching Angleterre's face change into varying colors in quick succession and also regretting why he even bothered hexing Francis in the first place. A small smile curved on the blonde's lips.
"Why, bonjour gorgeous." He purred, seeing his concerned son's rugged face in front of him. Matthew happens to be half-naked, wearing only his pajamas bottom. Francis then looked down and then noticed he is wearing a dress shirt and he is in his son's bed. He didn't recall falling asleep in these clothes.
"Bonjour, Papa." Mathieu answered, noticing that Francis is suddenly perplexed, looking around and wondering why he is in different clothes. "You fell asleep on top of Kumajiro last evening after dinner, I can't leave you there or he will crush you."
"I fell asleep...on your bear?" He gasped, remembering how Kumajiro grew in fearsome size. "Why would I do zat? I don't even recall going near that animal! Around what time did I fell asleep?"
"Before seven at least." Matthieu chuckled softly, "Right after Dad and Alfred left, you said you'll watch tv, but you can't keep your head up and you told me you're going to the bathroom to wash your face-but you got so sleepy, that you ended up falling asleep on my bear."
Francis's eyes widened, he didn't even remember there is a napping polar bear near the living room. He covered his face in embarrassment, just imagining himself passed out on the creature. "Mon dieuuu. I got knocked out that early?" he cried, "Ez the chinese food, wasn't it? I knew it!"
"Papa, its MSG- free." Matthew sighed, "You were tired." He pointed out, "Yes, you can burn calories faster with that body, but the downside is, you tire easily as well." Francis starts to move around uncomfortably. "Your body is that of a child after all."
He pouted, getting off the bed. "And you get to stay up late? Hm?"
"Well, for a reason" Matthew shrugged, as Francis heads into the bathroom. "After tucking you to bed last night, your phone rang so I answered it. Turns out, the rest of the other things you ordered from yesterday is delivered straight to your place, so I have to drive over there to get them."
"My dear, you don't have to go to all that trouble for my clothes~!" Francis called out, washing his face as Mathieu waited outside.
"Well yes, but also most of them is food." Matthew pointed out, "Remember all the pastries you ordered before we went home? Well they'll spoil if I leave them there. They won't fit in your fridge so I had to bring some here."
"Ah, I see! Merci!"
"You're welcome." Matthew replied, as his little Papa emerged from the bathroom patting his face dry, his hair pulled tight and neatly in a high ponytail. It made him look like a young girl. "Oh, since you are staying here for a while, I brought Pierre too!"
Francis paused, looking up alarmed, "-ez he in the living room?"
"Well, yeah..."
"But what about ze bear?" he panicked.
"Papa, you do know I have Kumajiro for the longest time! He won't eat him!" He followed his worried Papa rushing downstairs. He let out a sigh of relief to see his pet safe and sound, in its cage and far away from the large cumbersome polar bear.
"Do you know he can remember my name now?" Matthew mused, as Francis tiptoed to check on his pet, a white bird with an unusually large head. "It never happened before! By the way, I hope you didn't mind that I prepared breakfast."
Francis placed Pierre back in the cage and skipped towards the table. He stared at the food prepared on his plate.
Pancakes.
Four slices of large buttermilk pancakes, topped with a rather large sunny side up egg, sided by two slices of buttered up whole wheat toast and complimented by two sausage patties.
Francis could almost feel the cholesterol arteries clogging at the sight of it, but his stomach emitted a loud growling sound, the scent that whiffed toward his direction is just so...delicious.
"See, you're already hungry." Matthew smiled, ruffling his Papa's golden locks before heading across the opposite side and sitting down. Francis is still frozen and stared at his son's plate: It was stacked twice the amount of food than he had, and beside him is a big bottle of maple syrup.
But of course, he knows how his Matthew loves his maple syrup. But all that amount of food...
"You can't have zat!" he gasped, just as Matthew squeezed a generous amount on his pancakes. "Your body, mon dieu! You know what will happen!"
"Papa..." Matthew sliced through the layers, forking a big piece. "It's okay! It's breakfast! I'll burn this throughout the day! It will be hard if I starve myself. After all, breakfast is-"
"The most important meal of the day!"
Matthew almost sprayed the juice from his mouth and Francis turned around, standing by the room's entrance is Alfred, beaming widely with a smile as bright as sunshine.
"Bro!" Matthew rubbed his mouth with the back of his palm, "H-how, when did you get in here?"
"Alfred!"
"The hero can go anywhere he wanted." he grinned widely, but Matthew looked unimpressed. "I'm kidding. You gave me a spare key before remember?"
"Well, that's still no reason to suddenly come uninvited." Matthew grumbled, noticing Alfred is getting distracted by the sight of his pouting little Papa. "You could have at least called-will you put Papa down!"
"Man, I thought we were tight and besides..." Alfred carried Francis, bouncing him on the crook of his right arm. Matthew frowned when his Papa snuggled his face underneath his brother's chin, making a purring sound. "...I took my car in the car wash after what happened the other day and, waa...will you look at that!"
"Stop that, Papa." Matthew said flatly, placing his utensils neatly on the table.
"Stop what, fils?"
Matthew stood up from across the table and moved forward, his brows knotted in a frown. Francis is undeterred by his move and snuggled even closer to Alfred. Unbeknownst to him however, Alfred silently signaled his brother to hush, and with his one free hand, took out a small metal band from his pocket and quickly snapped it to Francis's ankle.
"Waah!" he gasped, quickly releasing himself from Alfred's embrace. He inspected the band on his ankle. "What ez this?" he demanded, sitting on the floor trying to wring the item off. It locked on tight and it seemed the only way to remove it is by typing a 4-digit code.
Alfred scratched the back of his head, "Sorry! Dad's orders!" He saw Francis's face puff, giving him a betrayed look. "Hey, don't look at me like that! He just wants to keep an eye on you. He can't call Matt all the time!"
"Does he not trust me?" giving Alfred a sad wounded look, like a puppy that's been kicked over the curb. Knowing well what his Papa was up to, Matthew plucked him from where he is sitting with ease.
"Ahh! Mathieu!" he struggled briefly in his arms, before being forcibly placed down on his chair.
"Papa, Dad is doing this for your own good until he finds a cure." he pointed out, pushing his breakfast plate. "Can we just have breakfast in peace, please?" Matthew then turned towards his brother, "Can you hold Papa until he..."
"Non!" he lifted both hands, before Alfred can even touch him. "I can do this by myself, I will eat your cooking-after all you are my-" Francis never got to finish his sentence, his words getting garbled as he starts to wolf down the stack of pancakes and eventually he silently consumed everything without uttering a single word.
"Wow, your old man really likes your cooking!" Alfred said in amusement, as Matthew silently led him to the living room, while his Papa was distracted. "He usually criticizes anything he did not cook, so yeah, what's up?"
"Any news from Dad yet?"
"Hm, nope." Alfred shrugged, "When I dropped him at his place last night, he gave me this device and then he is out like a light! But I think he will do something about it this morning, he called me up to-" he checked his watch, "-be there by 9 am."
"Alfred," Matthew sighed, "Its quarter to nine. I doubt you can even make it there on time even without the traffic."
"Yeah, which is also why I'm here." the bespectacled blond smiled, "Can I borrow any of your rides? I think I mentioned it earlier that I took mine to the car wash."
"What about the one you were driving yesterday?"
"That was Dad's~"
"Ah, I see." Matthew reached out in his back pocket for keys. He tossed them to his brother. "The jeep is in front of the garage. I had it cleaned yesterday after you guys left. You can use it."
"Sweet! Thanks!" Alfred caught the keys, "And Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"You really need to shave, man. The resemblance is creeping me out!"
Matthew frowned, he is aware of the hair growth on his body and on his face. He didn't have the time to shave his face last evening. "I'm aware of that; I'll get to it later. And besides..." Matthew turned around, he can see his Papa has finished his meal and is heading to the fridge. "-I can't have Papa eat that much, he's now going for...the sweets!' Alfred chuckled as he watched his brother briskly walk towards Francis, who was about to lay his hands on a small box of pastries. The tall blond was quick to remind his Papa about getting hyper with all the sugar, and the latter argued he might as well take advantage of eating what he can while still in his young form. It's an amusing spectacle to watch, as Matthew was quick to adapt to his role of a concerned 'father' to his, for now, 'younger' father figure.
"Okay guys, I better get going!" Alfred grabbed a banana from the fruit basket nearby and headed towards the garage. "Matt if you need anything, you know what to do! I'll update you if anything comes up!"
"A-alright!" Matthew struggled as his Papa threw a fit, "See you!"
----
It was almost 10 am by the time Alfred arrived in Arthur's house.
Oh man, he will be so pissed. Alfred said to himself licking his lips nervously as he stood in front of the doorstep. He is aware how Arthur is when it comes to punctuality. He pressed the doorbell and wait for the tongue lashing that was about to come.
Well, he can always point out that it was his fault, Alfred thought. If he didn't throw up in his car, he won't have to borrow Matt's vehicle on the way here.
Just when Alfred was about to press the doorbell another time, the door opened.
"Yes?"
Alfred blinked a couple of times, he never have seen Arthur this pleasant when he arrives at his house. "Well, somebody is in a good mood today!"
The smaller blonde's brows furrowed. "I beg your pardon?"
Alfred paused, not expecting the confused reaction. But there is something definitely strange with his Father figure today. He looks the same old Arthur, but his hair seems to look much fluffy than it should be. "Uh, after what happened yesterday?" He raised a brow suspiciously, "Dad?"
The man in front of him let out a weary sigh, "Arthur." he called out, eyeing Alfred from head to toe and then straight to his eyes. The American noticed the unusual thickness of his accent. "Your Alfred is here."
Alfred gawked, his mouth hanging from his jaw as he tries to form words from his mouth. That is not Arthur? He removed his glasses and rubbed the lenses clean, just to be sure. When the blond turned around to leave, Alfred noticed that the tips of his hair are wavy and a wee bit longer: it is tied from behind into a small ponytail.
As he put back his glasses, he saw Arthur finally heading toward his direction, looking somehow flustered and irate. "Alfred!" he started, his sleeves rolled up as wipe his arms with some washcloth. "Where have you been? You are late!"
Now, that's the Arthur he knew.
Alfred pointed at the man who just left and was heading towards a neat stack of books the the living room table. "Wait, did I-?"
"Yes, your uncle is here, Cymru." Arthur grumbled, closing the door behind them. "I can't believe you act like you never met him before."
"Dad, I swear I thought it is you!" Alfred gasped, as they walked inside. "I get the two of you confused most of the time!"
"It's common with brothers." Arthur's brother answered, overhearing their conversation as they approached him. "And it's also why I keep my hair to this length." he paused briefly, "Hmm, Matthew? No, silly-he is Alfred! Why yes, they also do look alike! "
Alfred stopped, looking perplexed. "Wait, what?"
Arthur's brother chuckled softly; he is talking to a presence not visible to his eye. Alfred almost forgot that he also had his share of imaginary friends just like Arthur.
"This is a serious matter, Haydn" Arthur said curtly, approaching his brother, taking out a small sack underneath the table. Alfred watched Arthur argue with the invisible creatures and tries to shoo them, much to no avail. "Do you have to bring them as well?"
"You asked for my aid, didn't you?" He replied, lifting his gaze from the browning pages of a weathered, leather-bound book to the small sack Arthur placed on top of the table. "You don't have to worry. They won't interfere." Alfred watched as Haydn turned his attention to a blank space on Arthur's right, pointing on it. "I'm more worried about, that."
Alfred watched for a while as the two argued briefly over their 'invisible' companions, when he felt the two have settled their argument, he cautiously approached them.
"Dad...?"
There is a cough.
"Oh, sorry!" Alfred faced the other, "Dad!"
Arthur's brow twitched, while his brother merely chuckled and went back browsing through the book of spells. "You git, can you not really tell us apart?"
"Uh, you're both wearing light green sweater vests."
"Arthur is wearing yellow green." Haydn pointed out, "I'm wearing a darker shade of chartreuse."
"Yeah, but it's still both light green."
Arthur grumbled in response, knowing that the description will just make no difference when it comes to Alfred, and so he just resigned to removing his own sweater vest so he can tell them apart..
"Ah, that's much better!" Alfred grinned, not noticing the annoyed look in Arthur's face. "So Uncle, what's the plan?"
"We are trying to figure out what your Father exactly did and we can take it from there." He replied calmly, "Is this the only book you borrowed from James?"
"Yes." Arthur grumbled, recalling vividly that the book itself flew past his head when he 'borrowed' it. "Do you...need the entire volume?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. You did mention it had something to do with time and balance, correct? I think you need to be more specific, it might take more than this book." He glimpsed at Arthur's face, noticing its changing colors. "Alright, I will go ask him myself if we will need more than this. For now, can you show me what you used for the incantations?"
Arthur opened the sack and poured the contents on the desk. There wasn't much: There are few pieces of candles, some fabric, chalk, folded papers with intricately drawn circular patterns. He drew them from the one he did at the attic, Arthur explained, it's originally one large circle but he was able to deduce it coming from three different patterns after doing some research in the library. Arthur went towards the nearby shelf behind his brother and took out a couple of books, all of them bearing small folded papers tucked in several pages within their spines.
"Hold it." Haydn finally spoke, inspecting the candles. Arthur looked up, with the books in hand. "You used these candles?"
"They were there half-burnt when I woke up, so yes, I did use them." he answered dryly, placing the books on the table. "Why?"
"You used red and white!" Haydn pointed out, holding the candles and shaking it in front of him. "During a full moon nonetheless!"
"I-it was full moon?" Arthur sputtered, his face slowly growing red. "That evening?"
"Yes, it was. I'm not surprised that you are not aware of it." his brother answered, "You should know better than to cast spells in such an intoxicated state! Now look at your predicament right now."
"So uh..." Alfred finally spoke, "What is with the candle's colors and full moon?"
"Ah!" Haydn looked up to the confused Alfred. "As you can see, each color correspondence must always be taken in consideration when creating and casting magic spells."
"Uh, for what?"
Arthur rolled his eyes, "You really don't have to explain everything to him, Haydn."
"It's alright." Haydn replied, "Didn't Arthur explain the basics of spells to you?"
"He never really had interest when it comes to matters like these to begin with!" Arthur argued, not wanting for his brother to continue any further. "Isn't that right, Alfred?"
"Well yeah, Dad is right. I'm not really interested when it comes to this magic stuff." Alfred answered, "I don't believe in that kind of thing, but my bro got affected with it along the way and I really want to do anything I could to help."
Haydn looked at his brother with complete disbelief, "You even got Matthew affected? I thought the only one you hexed is Francis!"
"It was an accident!" Arthur can feel his cheeks heating up once more. "Whatever spell I cast upon that frog, he somehow passed it on to him through physical contact."
Haydn lifted an eyebrow, "Physical contact?"
"Francis slapped Matt on the bum." Alfred answered for Arthur, "So uh, what does the colors, candles and stuff have to do with the curse Dad placed upon them?"
"It's a spell." Haydn corrected him, "Colors, symbols and scents are important parts of every magic spell as they stimulate the senses and set the overall ambiance. Proper use of these key elements contributes to the effectiveness of every spell and ritual." he continued, presenting the half-burned candles to Alfred as he explains everything as elementary possible. "Your father used red and white candles."
"And...what does it mean?"
"Red chiefly represents passion, love, strength, will power and it increases magnetism in a ritual." he held out the white ones, "And this, represents the balance of all colors. It's effective for spiritual enlightenment, purification, healing, truth-seeking-"
Arthur does not like where the conversation is going, "Haydn!"
"And it's also used in rituals that draw in lunar energy." He concluded, eyeing the reddening Arthur disapprovingly. "Unfortunately, your Father decided to use both of these candles under a full moon, where the effectiveness of spell casting is at its most potent."
"Oh wow, ouch." Alfred answered as he starts to process everything that he heard, trying to connect the dots: The color red for love and passion, Arthur placing a spell on Francis-there is no denying the history the two had together. He cannot place where the white color will fit in though.
"So Dad," He finds himself asking Arthur, "What was it that the two of you fought about at that time?"
"I told you before, I can't remember!"
"But this might make you remember though." Haydn remarked, looking at the set of candles that he finally sets down the table, pondering about what it could be as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, something must have happened ages ago that you haven't resolved with Francis up to now. He probably did something as of late that triggered that memory and it upsets you, probably enough to get yourself drunk, but that's just me. And knowing the relationship you both have, you just had to do something to remind him of that."
Arthur was sputtering at his loss for words as Alfred gawked in silent amazement. His uncle was able to deduce that by basing it on the colors used for spell casting?
"You haven't thought of that?" He asked Arthur, "The colors you used is already a dead giveaway, and it involves Francis." he lifted at the piece of fabric, "This happens to be his handkerchief am I right?"
Arthur nodded silently and Alfred let out a gasp. "Ah! Oh I remember that night. Dad was like, about to tear Francis apart so I had to pull him off. He must have taken that from his breast pocket while he was mumbling weird stuff."
"Oh? Weird stuff you say?" Haydn inquired as Arthur resigned to the chair behind him. "Arthur, is this where you told me you remember a part of the incantation before casting the actual spell on Francis?"
"Yes, it is..." Arthur grumbled, his color having subsided, pondering on the words his brother have told him. "I've written what I remembered... " He pointed at the small stack of books he took out, "-and I made notes as well."
"Maybe I can help with that," Alfred suggested, "I think I can remember some of Dad's ramblings when I tried to pry him off. It's pretty much uh...a lot."
"That would be most helpful," Haydn smiled, clapping his hands together. "Try to write what you can remember hearing, we will take it from there."
"Sure!" Alfred grinned, "This is cool, we're all making improvement!" he raised a high five towards Arthur who merely glared at him. Alfred laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head. "Haha...who knew it could get this complicated though."
"Alfred, it's not like you can wish everything back with a swish of a magic wand." The older Kirkland continued, noticing his brother's brow twitch. "You can't be careless with spell casting, there are laws to follow or else there will be grave consequences. This is why we need to figure this out as soon as possible. When it comes to rituals like these, you cannot gain anything without first giving something in return."
"To obtain, something of equal value must be lost-" Arthur finds himself saying. "Something will happen...oh bollocks, the first rule."
"Yes, the first rule." His brother went around him, giving him a light head slap. "Now you must try to recall what triggered you to cast a spell on Francis! I already gave you a head start, now all we need is to look at these notes and incantations you gave me for additional clues."
"So this spell, is this really a serious one, like a matter of life and death spell?"
"As of this moment, I'm afraid I have no clue." Haydn replied, his brows furrowing as he pored over the illustrations. He resembles Arthur more with that kind of frown. "But while we all try to figure this out, it's better to keep an eye on them."
"Alfred," Arthur sighed wearily as he stood up, approaching him. "You've been to your brother's place, how are they?"
"They're alright for now; they were having a lively morning chat over breakfast when I got there." Alfred replied, "I placed the tracking device on Francis just like what you told me to do and Matt will call if anything get weird."
"That's good...jolly good." Arthur nodded, patting his son's shoulder as he wearily walked past him. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I'm going upstairs...there might be something else that I might have missed."
Alfred watched as Arthur silently headed upstairs and towards the attic, where the source of all the current chaos begun.
"If he didn't come back here in half an hour, you better check on him." Haydn pointed out, his eyes not leaving the piece of paper he has been studying for some time. "He might find something that can be useful to us and I feel like your Father is not telling me something."
Arthur does look visibly shaken and a little pale when he left them, Alfred noticed.
"Did dad mention to you about the bad dream he had last night?" He wondered out loud.
====
Notes: Haydn - OC: Wales. I only borrowed the namesake from Candesceres's OC (I'm running out of ideas at this time OTL), she writes the best developed country OCs and I learned lots from it. I based Wale's appearance from a pixiv fan art here :D which showed him resembling Arthur up front, with only slight differences such as having a longer and tied hair.
About the magic and color correspondence: these are just the basic stuff that I come across on reading novels and browsing some Wiccan sites. I really don't know that much and I will keep the details about the spell itself vague.
I also blame this fan art once more for this uncalled for fic 8|
Also to dear anon who answered my fic request thing-o
young francis x victorian arthur plz :D