FACE Mertalia

Sneaking In Through The Back Door

"Verdammit, Veneziano, no running away! Get back here!" Ludwig hissed and grabbed the fleeing Italian's arm. "But Ivan's really big and scary!" Veneziano replied shakily. "What if he's coming to get me? I can't!"

"Nien, you will be fine, just stay with the group." Ludwig went to let go of Veneziano's arm, but found Veneziano now clutching it tightly. He tried to pry him off but it was difficult with one arm and, well, if Veneziano didn't hold on to him, he would probably swim away. So the Italian stayed.

"Ve have to catch Francis, can you keep up?" Ludwig asked, looking at the faraway figure of the Frenchmen ahead.

"Sí! I can!" Veneziano said enthusiastically. Ludwig nodded, "Gut."

Swimming quickly,(a fast jog for humans,) the two only caught Francis when he stopped. Francis was pacing in front of a servant entrance, partially hidden behind the vegetation they skirted around. "Can you pick it?" He questioned Ludwig when they were near.

"Vhat?"

"The lock. Can you make it be not locked?"

"Maybe, if I had a pin or something."

Francis drew a hand through his hair and came out with a slender black Bobby pin. "Will this work?"

"Um, ja, give me a moment." Ludwig said, slightly shocked, but he didn't show it. He pushed Veneziano off his arm, which wasn't hard the poor thing was shaking so much, and took the pin from Francis. He inserted the pin into the key hole and dug around until he found the lock mechanism. He tried but couldn't get the lock to turn. He grumbled as Francis' continued to breath down his neck, a line of bubbles rose from his flared gills everytime Ludwig failed. After Ludwig's thirtieth attempt, Francis turned tail and swam off.

"Hey! Vhere are you going?" Ludwig whisper shouted, trying to get the pin out.

"There's got to be another way in, I'm not going to waste any more of my time here." Francis said, flipping a hand over his shoulder as he got further away.

"Ve~ Ludwig! Look what I found!" Veneziano said, pulling Ludwig's arm.

"Vhat is it this time? Not another catfish, I hope." Ludwig said, not even looking at Veneziano, still trying to remove the pin.

"Nope! A crab, commander! Can I eat it?"

"Sure, just don't get it stuck in your hair like last time." Ludwig replied. He finally managed to jostle the pin lose and tossed it to the side. He faced the direction Francis disappeared in and looked back at Veneziano, who was studying his crab intently. "Vhat, are you, doing? It is food, just eat it."

"Uhmm, Ludwig, crabs shouldn't be metal right?"

"Uhhhh, ja?"

"Then what's this?" Veneziano plucked a rusted piece of metal from the crab's claws and held it out to Ludwig.

"An old key, I think." Ludwig said, taking the key and turning it in his hands. "I vonder...."

"What?" Veneziano said happily as he tried to get the crab out of his hair.

Ludwig put the key in the servant's door and turned it. It opened.

"Wow!" Venezinao gushed, "That only happens in stories! Seems too weird to be a coincidence, huh?"

"Ja, that is weird, ... but ve're in now, so it doesn't matter. Stay here and guard the door, I'll go find Francis and tell him we can get in." Ludwig said, already swimming away to find the Frenchman.

"NOooo, don't leave me! My medications are wearing off!" Veneziano cried and swam after him. He shook his hands like birds as he tried to get the crab off his fingers. "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" The crab scuttled off and Veneziano was left to nurse the finger the crab had snipped. Ludwig was gone.

Veneziano was panicky but returned to the door. Ludwig told him to gaurd it, so that was what he was going to do. Of course, though, he would do it cowering in the seaweed nearby. "Mm hmm, help me .... I can't be alone." He wrung his hands nervously, looking around wildly. After a moment he jumped up and shouted, "I can't be reliant on Mr. Ludwig anymore! I'll just have to do something on my own!" right in Ivan's face.

With a shriek like a cat being sat on, Veneziano immediately scurried backwards, knocking into the servants' door. With no where to go, Veneziano got on his knees and begged. "Oh please don't kill me! I'm a virgin! You wouldn't kill a virgin would you? Oh please don't kill me! I don't WANT to DIE!!!!!!!" Ivan approached Veneziano, who was lying on the ground, smiling softly. He crouched beside him and laid a hand on the Italian's shoulder. Veneziano flinched and froze when he felt the touch.

"Hello, my name is Ivan Braginski. You are Veneziano, da?"

Veneziano mutely nodded, too terrified to speak.

"Great, now you won't be giving me the trouble, so you be leaving soon?"

Veneziano nodded again, shaking in fear.

"Good." The Russian removed his hand and stood. "See you later~" he sang, disappearing as Ludwig powered around the corner, Francis in tow, both looking furious.

"VENEZIANO!!! What's wrong?!" Ludwig cried, rushing to the Italian's side. Veneziano shook his head quickly as Ludwig searched for wounds, after finding none, looking around for signs of distress. "Ludwig, I'm fine. Ve~ Ludwig! I'm fine!" Veneziano almost yelled. He pushed himself up and grabbed Ludwig around the torso. "Ludwig, I'm alright."

"Then why were you curled on the ground?" The German demanded, not returning the affection.

"I met Ivan." Veneziano whispered. Ludwig stiffened then wrapped his arms around the slight merman. Francis rushed to Veneziano's side. "Ivan?! Mon Dieu! What happened?"

"He asked my name and if I was leaving soon, what does he mean Ludwig?"

"I don't know. What else he say?"

"Um, he asked me if I was going to cause trouble and I told him no. Then he swam away just before you got here."

Ludwig nodded and Francis started to swim circles around the two. "Don't you see?" He spoke excitably, "Mathieu must be close! Why else would Ivan be threatening Veneziano?"

Ludwig looked at Francis and then down at Veneziano's face, gazing up at him. "Are you sure you are alright?" he asked. Veneziano nodded furiously, and let go of Ludwig, floating into a salute in front of him. "Sí, commander! I'm ready for anything!" He sure is changeable. Ludwig thought and motioned to Francis. "Like I was saying before Veneziano screamed, we managed to unlock the door. If we can infiltrate -" He was interrupted by a blinding flash of light knocking them all backwards.

As the light faded, three figures became visible; a merman with messy hair, holding the hands of two merlings. Arthur laughed as the light disapated and he looked at the three shocked faces gazing at him. "Francis, I found them!" He said, eyes landing on the Frenchman. "Well, more like they found me, but." He shrugged and let go of the boys' hands.

Matthew was immediatly crushed by Francis' hug. Francis was a mess, sobbing as he stroked Matthew's hair with one hand. "Oh, my Mathieu, I'm so sorry this happened." Arthur picked Alfred up and threw him over his shoulder like a bag of corn, much to Alfred's delight as the merling squeaked and struggled to get down.

Ludwig and Veneziano stood a ways away surveying the happy reunion. Veneziano clutched one of Ludwig's crossed arms. "Ve~ They are so cute! I'm really glad they are together again, Ludwig!"

The German gave a rare smile watching Arthur kiss Alfred on the head and Matthew comforting a still sobbing Francis. "Ja, I'm glad too. They're a mismatched family, but they belong together."