FACE Mertalia

Alfred and Kumijirou become the HEROES

Alfred had heard Matthew call his name and was frantically searching the maze for him. "Mattie! Mattie, where are you?!"

Alfred sobbed in relief when he saw Kumijirou fly out of the coral patch where he had been hiding. "Kumijirou! Where's Mattie?" Alfred asked.

"Who?" the seal replied, cocking his head.

"Your friend! The one who feeds you! Mattie! Where is he?!"

"Oh,... him. He went with that strange man."

"Ivan!?"

"Yep." the seal nodded before pointing with his flipper, "They went that way."

"Why didn't you say so? Let's go! Ivan obviously forced Mattie to go with him, Mattie wouldn't just leave me!" Alfred raced in the direction Kumijirou pointed, before he looked back at the seal, "You comin'?"

Both seal and boy raced off, in hot pursuit of a kidnapper.

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Arthur was hysterical. Francis was trying to calm him, but to no avail. "Where are they?!" he cried, yanking on his messy blond hair, close to tears, "Something must have happened, they wouldn't just leave!"

"Calm down, Arthur. I'm sure they are alright. They must have just lost track of time."

"Lost track of time?! They have been gone for seven hours, Francis!"

"Oui, but they will come back. Sometimes, I would leave home for days without telling anyone."

"Yes, but they are seven, you bloody git! Besides, I told Alfred we would have hamburgers for dinner, he loves those things, and he wouldn't just leave!"

Arthur finally broke down sobbing, as Francis pulled him into a tight hug. "Wherever they are, I know they are together, and they will look out for one another."

Arthur just continued sobbing into Francis' shirt. The Frenchman sighed as he watched his beautiful designer shirt get covered in snot. "If it would make you feel better I can call Antonio and Gilbert and zee if they have zeen them. If not, I'm sure they would help us find them."

Arthur could only nod as he wondered what had happened to his boys.

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Alfred's stomach growled loudly for what was the hundredth time in the past hour. The merling had been swimming with Kumijirou, in what he thought was the right direction, for a long time and was getting tired and grouchy.

"Man, I would even go for some of Arthur's scones right now." Alfred whimpered as his tummy rumbled again.

Kumijirou sadly smiled, he knew they were lost, but the only way thing to do now was to keep swimming. The duo noticed that the water had been steadily getting colder as they continued; making them think they were heading north. Alfred thought it made sense, as that strange man had seemed cold like ice, and what better place for a guy with a frozen heart then the Arctic?

Alfred suddenly stopped as he caught the delicious aroma of someone cooking. His eyes narrowed as he raced towards the smell. Kumijirou was freaked out at the look in Alfred's eyes as he suddenly veered off the road they were following.

"Where are you going?" the seal yelled as he tried to catch up to the merling.

Alfred didn't answer but continued on, oblivious to anything except that scent. After following his nose for a few minutes, the merling reached his destination. Alfred ducked into some seaweed and looked down at where his nose had lead him. Two figures appeared to be camping, Alfred couldn't really make out there faces since they were far away in. One was shorter and of slighter build than the other, who appeared muscular with slicked back hair. The smaller one stood and stirred a pot sitting next to him with a ladle.

"The pasta is almost ready, Doitsu!" the smaller one said excitably in a high pitched voice.

"Ja, is good." the larger one said in a gravelly tone.

"Uhhhnnnn.... That smells soooo good." Alfred whimpered at the odor wafting off the pot. Kumijirou finally caught up to him, panting heavily. Alfred glanced at the seal, "Do you think they would give us some? We could stage a distraction and just nab the pot."

"Or you could just ask nicely." the seal suggested.

"Worth a shot, I guess. Hey!" Alfred cried, as he rushed out of the his hiding spot, waving his arms, before the seal grabbed his fins and pulled him back in. "Ouch! Why'd you do that!? That hurt!"

"Because we don't know if they are nice or not."

"Oh, come on! You really-"

"Shhhh!" the seal whispered as he slapped his lippera flipper over Alfred's mouth.

"Ludwig, did you hear that? It wasn't a ghost was it? You know I'm scared of those things!" the one stirring the pot cried as he dropped the ladle and rushed behind muscular one, Ludwig.

Ludwig sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you, Veneziano? There is no such thing as ghosts."

"B-but what about that?!" Veneziano cried as he pointed to where Kumijirou's white tail poked through the seaweed. Kumijirou quickly drew in his tail as both he and Alfred gulped. Ludwig turned in time to see the flash of white disappearing into the dark weeds. "Hm, I vill go see." Ludwig said as he stood and crept to the boy's hiding spot.

"What do we do?" Kumijirou frantically whispered to Alfred. Alfred could only mumble as Kumijirou was still covering his mouth, "Right, sorry," the seal said as he removed his flipper. "Why do you ask me?! I don't know!" Alfred hissed.

Ludwig heard their voices coming from the seaweed, having a whispered argument. He frowned as he pushed aside the plants to see the two on the ground, nearly strangling each other. "Vhat are you doing?"