(Disclaimer: Hetalia does not belong to me. It belongs to Hidekazu Himaruya. If this disclaimer is wrong then please do not sue me.)
KChan: This is just the beginning, so there isn't that much development yet. If you like it, please review. If you don't like it, then please still review.
Hidden
An eruption from a volcano ended the lives of Pompeii citizens in 79 AD, but the volcano also ended another life that history has yet to discover.
Chapter 1: Little Italy
"Ready!"
Pion, a six-year-old girl, ran out the door with her bag over her shoulder. Pion despite her age was a prodigy. She had a vast knowledge of every school subject; she knew the arts to an expert level; and was the best at sports. She was also lucky. She had yet to find something she wasn't good at it. Because of the envy of her previous classmates, she was allowed to enter college early and made quick friends. She was to graduate that year.
Pion saw her friends: three girls and two guys. The three girls were named Linda, Bridget, and Kate. The two boys were named Joshua and Patrick. They were her closes friends in her college even though they were older than her by sixteen years. Pion ran to them next to the bus stop.
"So you guys are ready for the trip to Italy, right?" asked Pion excitedly.
"Of course, I'm ready. We are going there for my wedding," stated Kate. She grabbed the arm of Joshua and said, "Isn't that right, honey?" Joshua blushed and nodded. Linda whacked the back of Kate's head and said, "Don't be lovey dovey in front of the single folk and definitely no kissing in front of Pion."
"Fine, fine," said Kate as she released Joshua's arm. That day, they were going to fly to Italy to have Kate and Joshua's wedding. Kate and Joshua actually got together because of Pion. They had both befriended her and after going to a study session with her they began to date and eventually got engaged. They see Pion as their little cupid.
Patrick picked up Pion and placed her on his shoulders smiling.
"Do you see the bus coming, Pion?" asked Patrick. Pion shook her head and stated, "Not yet." Patrick was like an older brother to Pion. He was practically a thug in college because of his rough behavior and gambling addiction, but after befriending Pion he mellowed down and people began to talk to him. He actually joined the trip to protect Pion.
Bridget yanked Pion away from Patrick and said, "Don't hog Pion all to yourself." Patrick pouted with crossed arms. Bridget was the big sister figure to Pion. She was really shy before and boys easily harassed her, but changed after Pion came around. Pion was small, but still defended Bridget from her harassers. It made Bridget wish that Pion was a bit older, but she still loved Pion as a little sister.
Linda took Pion from Bridget and said, "You're one to talk." Linda was a tomboy through and through and refused to hang out with people, but after Pion came around she became more sociable and outgoing. Linda says that if anyone hurts Pion she would send them to Hades.
Joshua took Pion from Linda and Kate took her from Joshua. Before Pion knew it, they were practically playing hot potato with her. When the bus arrived, everyone on the bus was laughing at the sight. They boarded the bus one by one fighting who was going to sit next to Pion. Pion in the end ended up sitting in an empty seat, so they wouldn't have to fight.
As the bus drove down the road, Pion looked through her bag making sure she had everything. The bus came to a sudden stop nearly knocking her out of her seat.
"Thanks for stopping man!" stated a man in a white shirt. He walked onto the bus and sat next to Pion. Pion looked at him and noted that he loved America because he had the American flag on his white shirt. He sat his duffel bag on his lap as the bus began to move. Pion looked away for a minute and then heard him eating. She looked at him and was shocked to see a hamburger in his hand. She wondered where he got it from as she looked at the burger. Pion hadn't eaten since waking up from her slumber on the boat ride, so when she saw and smelled the smoking hot burger in the man's hand, Pion's mouth began to water.
The man noticed this and asked, "Do you want one?"
"You have another one?"
The man nodded and dug in his bag. Pion could have sworn that she saw a small puff of smoke from the bag. He pulled out a smoking hot burger from his bag and held it to Pion.
"Enjoy."
Pion nodded not questioning where the burger came from. She munched on the burger happily.
"Good huh?"
Pion nodded swallowing a piece. She looked at the man and said, "Thank you sir."
The man chuckled and said, "Sir sounds weird. Call me Alfred."
"Alfred?"
"That's right. I'm also a hero!" he announced happily. There were practically sparkles all around him. Pion giggled and said, "Then nice to meet you Alfred, the hero." Pion nibbled on the burger happily. Alfred did the same. Alfred's eyes suddenly widen and began to look around.
"Something wrong?" asked Pion. Alfred chuckled and said, "I thought I felt something just now, but I guess it was nothing." Alfred gobbled the last of his burger and then pulled out another from his bag.
"You must love burgers," noted Pion. Alfred nodded and said, "Burgers are the best, hands down."
Pion ate the last of her burger and added, "Other foods are good too like pasta and scones."
"Scones, you like that stuff?"
Pion nodded. Alfred sighed and said, "All the scones I have ever eaten taste like dirt."
"What type of scones are they?"
"I can never tell," said Alfred turning pale. Alfred gasped when the bus passed the Astros stadium. He pressed the red button above Pion repeatedly screaming, "This is my stop!" The bus stopped abruptly. Pion fell forward nearly slamming her head in the chair in front of her, but Alfred managed to save her and asked, "Are you OK, kid?" Pion nodded sitting back down.
"I was just not prepared," said Pion. Alfred sighed in relief and began to walk off the bus. Before he walked off, he looked back at Pion and asked, "What's your name?" Pion smiled brightly.
"Pion."
Alfred felt a rush of heat in his cheeks and then turned away. He walked off the bus in a quick haste. Patrick peeked over to Pion's chair and asked, with narrow eyes, "What were you two talking about?"
"Food," said Pion in a sweet voice. Patrick ruffled her hair and said, "You really shouldn't talk to strangers." Pion giggled.
"But I need to talk to people in order to make friends."
"But what if they were a pedophile?" asked Bridget as she peeked from her chair.
"Then I would run like the wind," answered Pion making her friends laugh.
They arrived at the airport, which was filled with people of all ages. Kate looked at the map and said, "Our flight should be at the fifteenth entrance at the north side."
"That sounds far," complained Linda crossing her arms behind her head.
"Don't complain," scolded Kate. A crowd of people suddenly passed by them nearly, knocking them down. Patrick cursed them out and then realized that Pion wasn't in sight. He looked around frantically calling for Pion. The others turned pale.
Pion was carried off by the crowd. Pion tried to get out, but it was very difficult because of her small size. She managed to squeeze her arm out and grabbed the closest thing pulling her out of the crowd. The thing she ended up grabbing was the arm of a blonde haired man with scuffles around his chin. He was wearing a bright purple suit that could compete with the Barney costume in kids' shows. The man looked down at Pion with confusion in his eyes.
"Do you need something, little one?"
Pion released the man's arm and said, "I'm sorry, but I needed to grab something to get out of that crowd." The man grinned and kneeled down in front of Pion. He placed his index finger under her chin with sparkles around his form.
"Does that mean I saved you, oui?"
Pion nodded and asked, "Are you French?" The man nodded and said, "My name is Francis Bonnefoy and you are…?"
"Pion."
"Such mignon name."
Francis kissed her cheek and then whispered, "Do you need any help?" Pion nodded and said, "I need to find my friends."
"Oui, then I will help you."
Francis grabbed her hand and began to lead her through the airport. He looked down at her and asked, "So why are you here with your friends?"
"We are going to fly to Italy for Kate and Joshua's wedding."
"A wedding in Italy? It's much more romantic to have a wedding in France, non."
Pion giggled and said, "I thought so too, but they always wanted to go to Italy together, so they decided to get married there." Francis smiled and muttered, "True love birds, non?" Pion nodded with a bright smile.
Francis suddenly sensed something that sent chills down his back and looked around. Pion tugged Francis's arm and asked, "Is something wrong?" Francis gasped and laughed uneasily.
"Nothing is wrong, mignon Pion."
Pion cocked her head to the side wondering if Francis was all right. She suddenly spotted Patrick and Linda through the crowd and waved to them calling their names. Patrick and Linda smiled when they saw Pion and ran to her. Patrick carried Pion, hugging her.
"Thank goodness you're all right," he said filled with relief. Linda said the same. Pion nodded and looked toward Francis who had a worried look on his face.
"Francis helped me find my way," said Pion happily. Patrick and Linda looked at Francis and thanked him. Francis flinched and nodded. He held Pion's hand and kissed her hand wishing her a farewell. Francis ran off before Patrick and Linda could smack him.
"Was that a pedophile?" asked Linda in disgust.
"He was just being French," stated Pion with a smile. Patrick and Linda sighed and made their way back to the others who were just as happy to see that Pion was safe.
They boarded the plane and took their seats. When the plane was in flight, Pion needed to use the bathroom. She left her seat and went to the bathroom area. To her disappointment all the bathrooms were in use. She leaned against the wall waiting for one to be available. A man with short brown hair suddenly entered the bathroom area and knocked on one of the doors shaking.
"Rus…"
The man stopped midsentence when he saw Pion looking up at him with confusion in her eyes. The man gulped and knocked on the door again.
"Ivan-Sir, you really need to return to your seat."
A dark aura seemed to emit from the bathroom as a childlike voice echoed from it.
"Why should I come out?"
The brown haired man began to shake uncontrollably and said, "Well people need to use the bathroom and Be…I mean Natalia threatened to take a hostage if you don't return."
The dark aura seemed to disperse as the bathroom door opened. A white haired man shook a little as he exited the bathroom stall and said, "We can't have that."
The white haired man closed the bathroom door and was about to walk out, but flinched and looked around as did the brown haired man. Pion cocked her head to the side and asked, "Is something wrong?" The white haired man and the brown haired man looked at Pion with confusion in their eyes.
"Who are you little one?"
"Pion and you?"
The white haired man showed a childlike smile and said, "My name is Ivan and this louse here is Toris." Toris bowed to her still shaking in fear.
"Are you scared of something, Toris?" asked Pion. Toris began to stutter. Ivan looked at him with the childlike smile and asked, "Yes, are you scared of something, Toris?" A dark echo seemed to follow his words. Toris cringed and shook his head.
"Are you OK?" asked Pion in concern. Ivan smiled back at her and said, "He's fine, but didn't you need to use the bathroom?" Pion gasped and nodded. She ran into the bathroom stall that Ivan was in before. Ivan placed a hand under his chin in thought.
"Ivan-Sir?"
"That child is strange. She didn't even shake in my presence."
Toris gasped in surprise knowing full well that anyone would shake in fear when Ivan's dark aura touched them. It was a mystery why it didn't affect Pion.
Pion left the bathroom sighing in relief. She suddenly saw something hovering in front of her and gasped. It was a rabbit like thing, but it had wings upon its back and it was light green. It looked at Pion and asked, "Can you see me?" Pion nodded. The rabbit thing cheered and rested on her head.
"Then do you want to play with me?"
"Sorry, but I have to get back to my seat with my friends. I can maybe play with you later in Italy if I see you again…um….what's your name?"
"Lime," cheered the pixie.
"Then I hope to see you again, Lime."
Lime cheered and then flew down the plane aisle. Pion smiled and then headed back to her seat.
Lime landed on a blonde haired man's head. The blonde haired man looked up at Lime and asked, "Hello Pixie friend." The man had an obvious English accent. Lime smiled and said, "Guess what, I met a girl who could see me."
"Is that so? Then you better introduce me to her next time."
"I will."
The man suddenly flinched and looked around.
"Something wrong?"
"I'm not quite sure. I felt something rather familiar."
Pion returned to her seat and looked at her friends.
"I saw a fantasy creature near the bathrooms."
Bridget giggled and said, "Sure you did."
"I had a feeling you wouldn't believe me," pouted Pion. Her friends laughed and tried to cheer Pion up the rest of the trip.
They soon landed in Italy and exited the airport. Kate smiled and hugged Joshua's arm and said, "Isn't Italy wonderful?" Joshua nodded hugging Kate back.
"I told you no lovey dovey stuff around the single folk," scolded Linda. Bridget giggled and said, "Come on, they are going to be husband and wife soon."
"That's my point, they can be all lovey dovey when they are in their honeymoon," stated Linda. Kate and Joshua blushed.
Patrick looked around and said, "You guys don't need to get married so fast, so how about a tour of Italy?" They all nodded. Pion held up her bag and said, "Then let's place our bags at our hotel." They headed to their hotel.
Patrick waited in the line to check them in, while the others waited at the seats in the lobby. An Asian man sat with them and pulled out a book written in Japanese. Pion read the cover of the book and asked, "Is that book 'The Bamboo Cutter'?"
The Japanese man nodded and said, "It is from my country. I am surprised that you can read Japanese." Pion smiled and stated, "I can read all the languages no problem."
"Amazing."
Linda nodded and added, "Pion is actually the valiant Victorian in our school." The Asian man gasped and asked, "You're her classmate?" Linda nodded and pointed at the others.
"We're all classmates."
The Asian man looked down at Pion and asked, "How old are you?"
"I'm six, but because of my brain, I got into college early," said Pion proudly.
"That really is amazing. What is your name?"
"Pion."
"I am very pleased to meet you, Pion. My name is Kiku Honda."
Kiku closed his book and handed it to Pion.
"You can read this book if you like."
"But isn't this yours?"
"I have other books," said Kiku. Pion smiled and took the book happily. Kiku looked at his watch and said, "I better go now, but I do hope to see you again." Pion nodded and watched him walk off. Pion looked at the book and gasped in surprise.
"This is made by hand and the publication is when it was said to be written. This could be the original copy."
"Seriously?"
"Maybe I should start talking to strangers too," said Linda in thought.
Kiku turned a corner while they were talking and then suddenly felt a chill. He looked around wondering what he had just felt.
Patrick got their rooms. They dumped their stuff in their rooms and then left the hotel to explore Italy. They went to different tourist sites and took multiple pictures. They had a great time and then began to head to their hotel. On the way, Pion crashed into a man causing her to fall over. The others didn't notice until they realized that Pion was way behind them. They headed back to her.
Pion looked at the person she crashed into and apologized. The man stared down at her with wide eyes.
"Something wrong?" asked Pion. The man crouched down and held her shoulders, his eyes still wide.
"Big brother, Pion?"
"What?"
The man hugged her and said, "I knew you were alive." Pion blinked in confusion.
"Do I know you?"
"What are you talking about? It's me, little Romano, remember?"
Pion's confusion grew.
"What are you doing to Pion?" yelled Patrick as he charged at Romano. Romano narrowed his eyes and picked up Pion. He glared back at Pion's friends and yelled, "I won't let you take big brother Pion away!" Romano ran through the crowd with Pion in hand.
"Pion!" screamed her friends as they chased after them. They tried to catch Romano, but his speed was beyond human. He was soon out of their sight along with Pion.
Pion looked at Romano and asked, "Why are you taking me away from my friends?"
"It's for your own good," muttered Romano as he ran. Pion whimpered wondering why she was kidnapped.