Until the End Do We Part BOOK ONE

Chapter Four IV

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CHAPTER FOUR
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November 12th, 2023
10:26 PM

Arthur poked his head up into the attic, scanning the room cautiously. Nothing but old boxes and dust bunnies were in his sight.

He pulled himself the rest of the way into the attic, his dark boots thumping against the wood. He crouched, siphoning the lights he had created earlier up the stairs so he could see. With the room lit, he could now make his way around safely.
Well. Relatively, anyway.

Arthur walked to the back of the attic, immediately spotting the Black Mass nests, lighting them on fire. They burnt to the ground, and the Briton made sure the fire didn't spread. Didn't want them coming back, now did he?
Arthur searched the rest of the attic for any more, and found none.

He hesitated before looking through the boxes, knowing how private Alfred was about things he had hidden away.
"It is for the best..."

He opened a box, finding only a few stacks of books. The next had clothes from different eras, and the one after that had all his military uniforms. Most of the rest of the boxes had things mildly historical, a Civil War musket here, World War Two medals there.

That was until Arthur got to a smaller box, wooden this time, shoved into a corner behind a larger stack. It took some work to get it out, but eventually Arthur had it open and laying in front of himself. He carefully opened the box, and was shocked to see different lengths and thicknesses of iron chains. Underneath that was a jar of nails, more iron shavings, three or four bottles of salt, a bag of ash, and a packet of matches. On the very bottom was a small pamphlet, which contained painstaking diagrams and explanations of the many wards, traps, and defence mechanisms known to work against demonkind.

Arthur set it all out in front of him, still in shock. When had Alfred learnt about demon fighting? Where had he learnt it? Why hadn't he told anyone? Did Canada know about this? What about Japan? They were both extremely close to the American. Why didn't he tell Arthur?

Most importantly, when had Alfred decided to start fighting demons? It was incredibly heavy decision to make. To expose yourself to all those negative influences... it takes a very strong will to resist their calls and tempting voices.

Arthur searched the corner again, and a glint caught his eye. He reached for it, and his hand wrapped around the handle of a foot-long knife. The handle was cold, black stone, and the blade was reinforced iron. The very tip was coated in silver.

"Fighting werewolves too, are you...?" The Brit thought with a chuckle. *

Arthur couldn't help but feel incredibly proud. All those years Alfred had denied any and all connection to magic when he had been doing the exact things Arthur had for the past three centuries. It seemed like Alfred had literally followed in his footsteps, and was darn good at the profession too, or otherwise he wouldn't have such high-quality supplies.

The question was, if Alfred had known about all this, he would've known about and taken care of the Black Mass infestation. Suddenly Arthur tensed up, realisation hitting him like a double-decker bus.

He would've been able to handle it, if it was just Black Masses. There used to be no reason for his suicide, but now everything clicked into place for Arthur.

Demon hunting was always dangerous, but the people who had died at the hands of a demon often remained on Earth, only on the supernatural plane. That's where the term "ghosts" comes from. But it was proven that although physical offence worked against demons, a spiritual one always worked much better.

Demon hunters who had tied themselves to someone or something could do much more damage to demons than any human (or nation) could.

"Oh God... Alfred... he must have killed himself because he knew he couldn't handle whatever's here on a physical level... that's what he meant by coming back! He was going to try and find a way back after he had handled the demon!" Arthur dropped the knife, hearing it clatter to the floor.

Arthur realised that aside from that, Alfred must have chosen to tie his soul to him. It was the reason for all the strange occurrences around Arthur since his death.

If this was true... the little "Black Mass infestation" was much, much worse than Arthur had originally thought. He wouldn't underestimate Alfred's skill, and it must have been causing severe problems for him if he went to that extreme of measures.

Then it hit him.

Alfred was still there.

And he was with Arthur.

Arthur felt almost dizzy with relief. He had thought he had lost the American forever.
"He's here!" Arthur thought giddily. But then his happiness turned to anger.
Why didn't he tell anyone?! He could've easily asked for help! He KNEW Arthur was deeply knowledgeable about the supernatural! Arthur stopped.

"Unless he thought we'd laugh at him... the rest of us nations always teased him for believing in ghosts... what if he thought we would blow him off when for once he was being serious?" Guilt overwhelmed England. "I should've been there. I shouldn't have teased him, paid him more attention. Then we wouldn't be in this mess..."

Arthur stared at the knife laying at his feet. His eyebrows furrowed in determination.

"Whatever this ... thing... is, I'll get to the bottom of it and kill the bastard," Arthur swore vengefully, "If I can't do anything else, then I'll drive that bloody demon into the deepest, darkest pit of Hell there is for forcing Alfred to commit suicide."

Arthur gathered up all the supplies, including the book, and put them in his rucksack. He picked up the knife, staring at it with a hard look.

"And no matter what, I'll get you back Alfred. Even if it means I have to go to Hell myself."

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Defence Entry Two:
Silver

Silver has a widely known use for eradicating and/or capturing werewolves, which are technically called Lycanthropes. It is a literal poison to the creatures, and leaves burn-like marks if a Lycan is struck with the metal, so many a Hunter will tip their weapons in it just in case.