Title – Out of His Mind
Started – 03-18-2010 (11PM)
Finished – 03-19-2010 (in school)
Characters – England, America
Genre – Suspense/Romance
Rating – T for language and implied mature content
Upfront Summary [the summary that shows up with all the other information before you click on to read the story] = "Drop dead, Engwand!" "Call me…your hero…" "Go die in a hole!" "Bloody hell." The subconscious mind at work while Arthur sleeps, causing him great grief in the form of nightmares.
IMPORTANT!A/N – Slightly edited for I Love My Fans for Valentines' Day in which I edit and upload for as many different writing projects as I can for Valentines' Day and spam your inbox! XD
A/N – This story was inspired by doodlebug18's "You Could At Least Use Proper Grammar, Git" and Innocence Has a Gun's "Lucid" stories. To fully enjoy the storyline of my story, it is recommended to read "YCALUPGG" first, then mine, and then "Lucid" to avoid being spoiled and also get the joke. But that's just me. ^^
Also, I'd like to thank the two people who made this all possible. Well, three, actually. Innocence Has a Gun writes the most amazing stories; no lie. IHG's suspense story is what really convinced me to give this genre a try, and I really think it worked well for my first! Second, thanks Miss Macabre Grey for telling me to get off my butt and upload some Hetalia that I claim to love so much. =.= Gotta love her… And, last but not least, I'd like to thank KoboyashiNariko for looking over my work. She's the most astounding beta I've ever seen (and I'm a beta myself; she's like the top cat!), and an even more astounding writer.
Thanks guys!
Common Key =
~(SceneChange/EndScene)~
"Dialogue"
Thoughts/Emphasis/Whispering/Non-English/Songlyrics
EMPHASIS/LOUD
Narration
'So-called'
Disclaimer = I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia/APH. Hidekaz Himaruya does. If I did, Italy and Romano would be on their knees begging for me to let go of their hair curls as the Swiss army would shoot down any fangirls trying to take them away from me or take pictures of the incident.
Well, this was a lot of fun to write so I hope that it's a fun read for you guys too! Enjoy!~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(Out of His Mind)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't until just recently that Arthur began to have nightmares. He would wake up with a start to the sound of his alarm clock after it repeated its chorus for the twentieth time or so. Not even daring to move his irises from side to side, he would cover his scrunched up face with his hands and sob a little just to make sure that he was truly alive and well.
Now, Arthur was a very logical man.
Okay, so he was friends with fairies and crazy nations…and he practiced sorcery on the weekends.
Still, Arthur was a very logical man and a logical man such as this Brit certainly wouldn't let a mere vision of his unconscious resting mind make him cry or "jerk him around" either, as an American would say.
There were certain strategies, Kiku told him, of how to wake one's self up. Pinches, glances at the hands, or simply doing something impossible like getting Natalia to smile or poking Leala without getting shot would allow one to realize his (or her) mental status. Once that moment of enlightenment arrived, one could dream lucidly with enough practice and control the respective person's dreams for an exciting sleep (which he never understood because, frankly, sleeping was a resting period, not a horny one).
However, this dream that had been prodding his unconscious mind for more than a week was different than the others. It was more unbelievable than dancing to a monotonous foreign-language song with only a loin cloth on and France beside him, winking, with cat ears and a rose to cover up that sacred area. It was much more much more intimidating than seeing a Sealand prince growing up into a fine tall man, talking so easily of Russian conquest.
It was different because he was not himself.
He lived those frightening dreams as Alfred. He was tall with broad shoulders, wearing a loose jacket, T-shirt, and Texas glasses that did not change his sight whether he wore them or not, and of course that annoying cowlick even he—Arthur himself—could never manage to tame. Normally, it would be a fun dream where he could act like a total jackass at the world conference, calling everyone his back-ups and Yao a Pokémon. But this time, he found that was not the case.
Because sometimes all the doors of Alfred's house would be locked shut and he'd find himself alone…though not quite. The moment it would strike was always a well-anticipated surprise. Whenever he'd release a long-held breath, the shadow would pass through him and cover him in hot, sticky blood. He'd stare into a mirror, held up only by the shadow itself with its grin, and nearly breakdown at the sight.
To Arthur, the screaming of his own death was nothing compared to a blood-covered Alfred.
That was truly his nightmare.
So when Arthur had woken up late late at night, drenched in sweat after having witnessed and felt Alfred's head come clean off, no one could call it unreasonable for him to cry uncontrollably. When those loud sobs faded into soft whimpers, Arthur wiped his moist face and decided to take a shower.
Arthur climbed out of bed; his legs shivered and felt like they were made of sheet rock. On his way to the washroom, the man grabbed his cellular phone hastily off the nightstand…just in case.
When he made it there, he locked the door immediately, remembering what might happen if Alfred decided to barge in on him for a surprise visit. It wouldn't be the first time.
Or second.
Or even the fifth.
After the problem kept occurring for a few…years, Arthur made it a habit to lock the door shut so no one could get in.
Or get out.
A sudden chill tickled his spine as he looked in the mirror at himself…as himself. He looked miserable for a soul.
He shook his head at his state and turned the shower knob to an immediate 'hot'. While waiting for the water to heat up, Arthur stripped his clothes off in a careful fashion. It was hard to stay calm with such terrifying dreams following him. His eyes never stayed in one place; he couldn't keep still. Even as he kicked his pants to the side (a crime he would never commit on a daily basis due to the creases it would give his clothes later), he refused to be caught off guard. It was like a battlefield of war with no allies, just the neutral and the fearsome en-
What is wrong with me? There was no one in this room! The evil that plagued his dreams could never hunt him down in reality. It simply couldn't be done.
He nodded to himself, confident, and gracefully stepped into the shower, letting the scalding hot water wash all his worries away. He squirted some lavender scented shampoo into the palm of his hand and massaged his scalp. As he washed out the suds, a sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips. That certainly felt better…
He reached for the soap, only for it to slip from his grasp, falling with a piercing thud. Arthur picked up the bar quickly, chuckling and trying desperately to deny the paranoia that was building up in his stomach again.
CLICK
What…?
Everything fell into a terrifying decorum. He could no longer hear the pitter-patter of the soothing shower.
…was that?
A chilling wind somehow wrapped the nation in its wide arms, forcing him to kneel to its power and hunch over paralyzed beneath the boiling water.
This shower was doing nothing for him, Arthur decided quickly.
He lifted his head against the pelting water and gasped sharply at the shadow on his shower curtain.
If I see a Japanese boy, mouth agape, behind this curtain, bloody hell…
Arthur lifted a trembling hand to grip the ends of that drape and pulled it to the side, enjoying the clinking sound of each metal hoop hitting another on the railing as if it were a countdown towards doom.
It was all for…a toilet? Had his old age hurt his memory of the layout of his own washroom?
"Heheheh…" he started nervously just before bursting out into a laughing fit. He chuckled heartily as he rose to turn off the 'hot' knob, certain that his back would be red by now, and stepped out of the tub.
Yes! The toilet! That was exactly where his thoughts were going!
The nation practically jumped when his cellular began to vibrate and resonate with part of the American national anthem. That meant someone was…calling or messaging him? He wasn't too familiar with his portable phone. He picked it up with a rare smile on his face as he dried his short hair with a towel.
"'Text message received from America,' of course," Arthur noted as he wrapped a towel around his waist tightly and clicked 'View Now' on the machine.
i love u man srsly have my babies
…
Arthur sighed, "You could at least use proper grammar, git. You type like a bloody teen."
Before he could respond, two more messages were sent his way.
Arthur's eyes twitched in rapid succession, intense irritation, and he couldn't help but utter his own little curse - indirectly - to the man from his nightmares:
"I hope my dreams come true."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(Into the World)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N - :D Weeeeeeell? How was it? Really. It's not the first Hetalia story I've ever written, but it's the first one to be uploaded. However, it does win my first suspense story award. I was really nervous to post this up until Nariko-senpai patted me on the back and Miss Grey slapped me on the back. ^^; Just kidding, you know I love you.~ Right after the toilet part was where I fell asleep and then finished at school which one could probably see by the change of style. -.-" It's very noticeable and I hate how rushed the ending is. I'll fix it later when I figure out just how to do that though, for sure.
This story does have a sequel which, depending on reviews and the like factors, I will update onto this site probably within the month. :D The sequel is called "Chillax, Iggy!" until I can think of a better name. XP
Update (10-27-10) Almost all of the story is up and posted here on FFdotnet and I have decided that, yes, it's name shall be "Chillax, Iggy!". ^^ It really goes with the story attitude~
I'm review-hungry guys, so please tell me what you think of my first (uploaded) Hetalia fic!
Please and Thank Yous!
~TMRomance