Hello and welcome to my story! I don't really read much Hetalia fanfiction, but I read this awesome story by Atama Ga Kuru Teru called 'World is Ours' and was inspired. So I wrote this story. Or this chapter anyways. This story is kinda based on hers so I don't claim credit for certain ideas, but if you aren't familiar with her story then I don't want to ruin it for you!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or certain idea's from Atama Ga Kuru Teru's story 'World is Ours', but I do own my characters and this plot.
Chapter 1: It's a Pirate's Life for Me?
A bell tinkles somewhere in the back of the shop as Kaylie pushes the door open. My eyes narrow as the smell of must and old books washes over me. Inside the store it is dark, the lights not nearly bright enough to illuminate the entire thing. And it's dusty, long motes of it swirling lazily in the air, visible from the afternoon sunshine that manages to make it through the grimy windows.
"So…what exactly are we doing here again?" I ask Kaylie as I reluctantly follow her inside.
"Buying our books, duh." Kylie tells me, throwing a good-natured smile over her shoulder.
Right. Textbooks. For school. It sounded like a good idea when Kaylie told me about it. Just come to this little hole-in-the-wall bookstore where we could get our textbooks for cheap. Actually it's a fantastic idea seeing as being a college student means I'm pretty much broke and textbooks are ridiculously expensive. But now that I'm inside this dusty little store I'm not so sure.
Wheezy breathing and the sound of shuffling footsteps alerts me to the fact that we're not alone. I hesitantly take a step back as a very old man appears from around a bookshelf. His skin is wrinkled and loose and he stands hunched over, his back clearly not what it once was. His hair is pure white and quite thick for someone his age, sticking up in all directions. He wears thick, owlish glasses, which makes his eyes seem overlarge. But there's a bright glint in them that I can't help but find unnerving.
"Welcome, welcome," he begins, his voice gravelly. "Welcome to my shop. Is there anything I can…" The old man trails off, examining Kaylie and me closely.
"Hi Mr. Wasbash!" Kaylie pipes cheerily.
"Ah, it's you Ms. Jackson," Mr. Wabash replies, adjusting his glasses with a small smile. "You're back again I see."
"Yep! And I brought a friend too. This is Jordan Curren!"
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Curren. Well you two go on ahead. You know where to look Ms. Jackson."
"Thanks Mr. Wabash!" Kaylie gives the old man an enormous smile and then grabs my arm and literally drags me towards the back of the shop. Sighing, I don't resist knowing that it'd be a waste of my time. Feeling someone's gaze on my back I turn and look over my shoulder just before Kaylie and I disappear behind a bookshelf. Mr. Wabash is watching me with an interested look that instantly makes me uncomfortable.
…
I pull another book from the shelf and place it on the large and heavy stack balanced against my hip. As much as this place creeps me out I can't lie and say that Kaylie was wrong. The prices here are cheap. Sure the books are used and most of them are really worn and some are even a few editions too old, but who cares? It's not like the books really change that much from year to year anyways. And seeing as how it's the beginning of my senior year of college the state of my books really doesn't concern me anymore as long as they're still readable.
"You done?' Kaylie asks, her head poking around one of the ubiquitous bookshelves.
"Almost," I reply dully, past the point of caring now.
"Ok, great!" she replies giving me one of her trademark brilliant smiles. "I'm going to go see what's in the romance section. Just come get me when you're ready to check out!"
As Kaylie's head vanishes again I have to resist the urge to sigh. The other thing Kaylie's famous for is her obsession with romance novels. She's forced a couple on me and they're barely more than smut, but what can I do? A girl's entitled to read that stuff if she wants I guess.
Shifting the stack of books around in my arms, I dig my course schedule out of my back pocket. Another sigh escapes my lips as I see the last class that I need to buy books for. History 101: Introduction to World History I. I know, I know it's an introductory history class so it's no big deal. But I've been dreading taking my six humanities credits since I started college and at this point I can't run anymore. As a physics major I have no time for and no interest in history. And yet here it is on my course schedule.
I set off, moving up and down the rows of bookshelves looking for the one undoubtedly large and expensive textbook that I'll need. Finally I find it and with some difficulty I pull it out from where it's wedged on the shelf. Setting the rest of my books down I flip the history book open, trying to squash my feeling of dread as I do so. The book is dog-eared, highlighted, and so scribbled in that it's almost difficult to read. I look at the bookshelf again, but this one is the only copy. Feeling resigned I set the book on the top of my pile and with a grunt pick the whole bunch up again.
"Oh? Taking history I see?" The sound of Mr. Wabash's voice startles me so badly that I nearly drop my books. I shoot him a glare, trying to calm my now racing heart. "But that book is for a 100 level class isn't? Surely you could take one that's more advanced?" he asks me, his head cocking to one side inquisitively making him look even more like an owl.
"I could," I grumble loud enough for him to here. "But I don't want to. History isn't really my thing."
"Ah," he replies, his face breaking into a wide, toothy grin. "I think I might have something that could be of use to you then." He turns away from me and begins to shuffle off, motioning for me to follow.
I stare after him for a long moment. This place just gets creepier and creepier by the minute. But I'm curious despite myself. I follow Mr. Wabash back into the deepest darkest corner of his shop. Here he has a little table set up with a plethora of various knick-knacks. There's a cuckoo clock, an old set of dominos, and several dolls all along with all kinds of other things. Mr. Wabash circles around to the back of the table, shifting through everything like he's looking for something.
Finally Mr. Wabash stops. "Ah here it is," he says, his tone edging on triumphant. He pulls a smallish circular object off the table and holds it out for me to inspect.
It's a globe, just small enough for me to hold in one hand. Just like everything else in this store it looks very old, the paint faded and peeling in some places. The positions of all the countries seem to be current, however, from what I can make of the scrawling script that it is labeled in.
I frown. It's an interesting little artifact, sure, but "How is that going to help me with my history class?"
Mr. Wabash cracks that creepy smile again, his eyes glinting behind his glasses. "Just take my word for it Ms. Curren. It will make history…come alive."
Still frowning I reluctantly take the globe from him as he offers it to me. Flipping it over I see that there is a yellowed price sticker on the bottom. Three dollars? Shrugging I balance the globe on top of my stack of books. Why the hell not?
…
Sighing- I've been doing a lot of that today- I place the second to last book on the pile that has built up beside my bed. Just like every semester I've been looking through my textbooks to get an idea of what I'll have to learn in class before the semester starts. And there's just one left. History. I glare at it as it sits benignly on my desk. This class will be the death of me, I just know it. I stand and make my way over to the desk and, after hesitating for a second, flip the book open to a random page.
A painting of Napoleon Bonaparte on a white horse stares back up at me. Great. A midget with a god complex. This semester is going to be so much fun. I begin to flip through the book, looking for something that's even vaguely interesting. Finally I stop on a page describing pirates and privateers in the Caribbean. I can deal with pirates I think. Pirates are cool. I mean Pirates of the Caribbean is a good movie. The first one anyways. They get kind of weird after that…
I look up from the book to the globe that I've also placed on my desk. I reach out a finger and give it a flick, sending the globe spinning. "Pirates, huh?"
I watch the globe until it slows to a stop, the Western hemisphere facing me. Smiling a bit a reach forward and tap the Caribbean on it. Yea, learning about pirates doesn't sound so bad. Intent on heading back to my bed and going to sleep so that I'll be ready for class tomorrow I turn around…and scream. Free standing, all alone, in the middle of my room is door. In a doorframe.
I grip the desk behind me for support, my hand pressed over my heart as I will its beating to slow. It's just a door right? A door in the middle of the room…Maybe I already went to sleep and I'm dreaming? As I calm down the analytical part of my mind takes over. A door standing in the middle of the room like that is physically impossible and I'm pretty sure I'm not dreaming so…my roommates must be pulling a prank on me. Bastards.
Carefully I move forwards and slowly circle the door. It's probably just cardboard my roommates painted or something. Or not, I realize, as I finish my circuit of it. It's definitely wood. Unpainted and plain, with a shiny, round brass doorknob on one side. Ok so it's real. They must have snuck it in here or something while I was reading…right? I give the door a push, curious as to how my roommates got to stand in the middle of my room. It doesn't budge.
Something inside me breaks. This door is…real. There's actually a door just standing, by itself, in the middle of my room…OHMYGODWHATTHELL? I stumble backwards as my heart begins to race again. This is impossible. Totally impossible! And yet here it is, I can see it with my own eyes. What the hell is going on?
And now that I've accepted that the door is real…I want to know what's on the other side. 'This is a bad idea!' part of me screams. 'But I want to know what's on the other side,' another part of me moans. For a long moment my cautious and curious sides war against each other. But the curious side of me wins out in the end like it always does. Sometimes being a science major sucks!
Swallowing hard, I step forward again and reach out a trembling hand towards the doorknob. The world doesn't explode as I grab it so I take that as a good sign and turn it. Once the knob is turned the door seems to open of its own volition and I let it go.
When the salty air hits me the only thing I feel is shock. A breeze ruffles my hair, the sound of seagull's cries carried on it. If a door in the middle of my room is impossible I don't know how to even begin to explain this. Slowly, not even believing what I'm seeing, I step up to the doorway. Stretched out below me forever is dark blue water, above is light blue sky with white, fluffy clouds. Inside the door in the middle of my room is the ocean.
Suddenly I feel lightheaded and fall against the doorframe for support. This is…this is… I don't have any words to describe how ridiculous this is. Maybe I really am dreaming. I'm about to shut the door and head to bed and hope that I'm not this delirious in the morning when something catches my eye. On the surface of the water far below me is something brown and white. There goes my damn curiosity again. Leaning forwards a bit I squint to get a better view. It looks like a…ship? With sails? That can't be right can it? I lean forward some more trying to get a better view when I feel myself start to fall.
I scrabble wildly at the doorframe searching for something, anything, which will keep me from falling. As my stomach begins to fly up into the area around my throat I realize I'm too late- I'm definitely falling now. I squeeze my eyes shut as tightly as I can but just as I open my mouth to scream my feet collide solidly with something that feels very much like a floor. I stand absolutely frozen for a second, waiting for the fall to continue, but it doesn't. But whatever I'm standing on definitely isn't still.
I snap my eye open and gasp. The horizon gently sways before me as the ship beneath my feet rolls along the waves. THE SHIP! Fighting another mental break down I spin around wildly, trying to decide if everything I'm seeing is real. Upwards and too my right is another deck, the ship's wheel just visible. Too my left the deck gently slopes downwards before sloping up again towards the bow. A large single mast stands in the middle of the ship, a complicated mass of sail and rigging swaying gently above me in the sea breeze.
Feeling a bit woozy again- and perhaps a little seasick- I stumble forwards to the rail and lean over it, staring at the sea. This can't be real…it just can't. And yet all my senses are telling me that I'm definitely on a ship that is definitely sailing in the middle of the ocean. An odd popping noise echoes around me and I jerk my head up and to both sides, searching for the source of the noise. I hear the whistling sound of something moving quickly through the air and turn my eyes forward. Squinting hard I see something black and round hurtling through the air towards me.
I don't know what it is but something tells me not just to duck but to hit the deck. And so I do, throwing myself flat on the deck of the ship just in time as whatever it is slams into the rail of the ship above me with an almighty crash. I'm showered with wood splinters as the thing crashes through the other rail and into the ocean with a tremendous splash. Shaking I prop myself up to look at the destroyed rails above and behind me.
"Was that a freaking cannonball?"
"Sure was," a man answers me in a heavy English accent. "What do you think this is anyways? A pleasure cruise?"
With a gasp I whip around to look over my other shoulder. An extremely attractive man with dirty blonde hair, bright green eyes, and the thickest eyebrows I've ever seen is grinning saucily down at me. He's dressed in a bright red shirt, brown breeches, and worn, knee-high black boots. A bright blue scarf is wrapped around his head underneath his bangs. A short, curved sword hangs from a matching sash around his waist and the grip of a very old looking gun is visible in its holster as it hangs from a thick leather belt on his other hip. He has several gold earrings in each ear, a multitude of thick gold and silver bangles on each arm, and is wearing more necklaces than I can count.
"I…I…" Words fail me and his grin widens.
Suddenly there is another popping noise like the one I heard earlier. The man's head snaps up, his grin never faltering. "Uh oh. Looks like another one."
"Another wha-?" I begin, but my voice is cut off as the man swings me up into his arms like I weigh nothing at all. He easily leaps up the steps leading to the upper deck holding me bridal style. As soon as his feet touch the upper deck there is another almighty crash and the area of the deck where we were just standing is shattered by another cannonball.
The man sets me on my feet and strides to the edge of the stairs. "What are all you lazy seadogs doing?" His shout is practically a roar. "Trim the sails! Fix the rigging! Roll out the guns and prepare to fire!" The deck is suddenly alive with activity as men in various other kinds of colorful clothing hastily carry out their captain's- cause it's pretty obvious that the guy who saved me from the cannonball is the captain of this ship- bidding. The captain strides back towards me where I stand by the wheel and grabs a hold of it, spinning it hard to the right.
With the creak of wood and sail the ship slowly begins to turn. As it does so it's broadside begins to line up with another ship that is sailing nearby. In comparison to the one I'm on the other ship is massive, with four huge, square sails. The flag flying from its tallest mast is red and gold and looks a lot like the Spanish flag.
"We're ready for the first volley captain!" The yell from the lower deck draws my attention. Another man stands there, looking eagerly up to the man beside me.
The captain grins widely, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Good. Tell all the gunners to set them at forty-five degrees!"
"Aye-aye sir!" the man shouts back. He then disappears into a trap door in the middle of the deck, but I can hear him yelling from down below.
The captain turns to look at the other ship, his expression eager, and I get a funny sinking feeling in my stomach.
"We're ready sir!" the same man has popped his head up through the hatch.
"Alright then! Ready!" the captain roars. The other man conveys his orders below again. "Fire!"
I slap my hands over my ears and squeeze my eyes shut at the sound of the guns going off. Canon fire is a hell of a lot louder when you're right on top of it. There is a roar of cheering from below the deck and I look up at the other ship in time to see two of the cannonballs strike it, the rest falling short into the sea.
"Fire at will!" the captain calls to his men with a flourish of his arm. There is more cheering from the other men and the canons go off again, continuing the bombardment.
I watch, horrified, as the cannonballs fly through the air. Most of them miss, but I wince every time one hits, knowing how terrifying it is. Finally I can't take it anymore. "Why the hell are you firing at that other ship anyways?" I turn and yell at the captain.
He shoots me a funny look before replying. "Because we're after all the gold and silver they've got, of course!"
"Why?"
The captain frowns and steps right up in front of me, his face inches from mine. My heart does a funny little flip with him so close and I stumble back a couple steps. "You're an odd wench aren't you? I figure you must have been drunk when you snuck on board, but you're not still drunk now are you?"
"Of course not!" I cry indignantly. "Just tell me what the hell you're doing!"
The captain laughs. "We're pirates, wench! Pirates!" He motions towards the mast and up towards the top I finally notice it. The black flag of the Jolly Roger, white skull and cross bones and all flapping in the breeze.
"Pirates," I say weakly, fighting the urge to faint.
"That's right! Though the queen prefers to call us privateers," he replies with a wicked grin.
"So you're pirates," I say dazed. "And that's a Spanish ship that you're robbing."
The captain's grin turns roguish. "You're a smart wench aren't you?"
His repeated use of the demeaning term snaps me back to my senses. "Yes I'm smart," I reply icily. "But I'm not a wench."
"You're not?" the captain replies slightly surprised. "You didn't sneak aboard at our last port call?" My only answer is to glare. His expression suddenly turns completely salacious. He steps into my space again, but I can't back up anymore as my back is already against the rail. "That's too bad," he breathes huskily into my ear. As much as I want to deny it, it sends pleasant shivers down my spine. "I like wenches like you." His eyes then travel downwards, examining my body lustily.
I have to fight the urge to cover myself with my hands as I'm dressed only in a tank top in shorts. It's not my fault really. It's hot in August and the house I live in doesn't have air conditioning. He reaches up to grab…something…but I push him away hard enough to make him stumble back a couple steps. "Don't touch me!" I hiss angrily at him. He doesn't look discouraged though. In fact, if anything, he looks even more excited.
A sudden explosion from the other ship is what saves me. A massive column of smoke rises from the middle of it
\, flames licking it's edges and beginning to spread.
The captain lets out a loud whoop that his men, now filling the main deck, return. "Good job men! We've hit their powder!" My presence apparently forgotten, the captain jumps back over to the wheel and spins it hard again. The ship creaks into a sharp turn forcing me to grab the rail to keep from going over the side. When I'm certain I can stand again I look up to see our ship pointed straight at the other one.
"Wh-what are you doing?" I squeak fearfully as we plow through the water towards the other ship. This thing doesn't have that tight of a turning radius does it? We're going to hit it if we don't turn soon!
The captain grins wickedly. "Boarding."
Suddenly he turns the wheel in the opposite direction, the ships sudden movement sending me stumbling to the opposite rail. I lean over it, gripping it tight, and see nothing but water below me. I'm not gonna hurl…I'm not gonna hurl. The sound of more cannon fire and men shouting draws my attention and I see that the ship I'm on has drawn up next to the other one. The captain's men are throwing ropes across to it and lowering boards to cover the distance while the sailors on the other ship fire muskets at them. Both ships are firing their canons wildly, the wood beneath my feet shaking from the explosions.
The pirates begin to scramble across to the other ship, either engaging the Spanish sailors in battle or disappearing into the smoke and fire, undoubtedly to look for treasure to steal. The captain is dramatic, climbing halfway up the rigging of his ship and then swinging across to the Spanish one. He is immediately met by another handsome man wearing a fancy looking uniform, medals gleaming on his chest.
"Britain, you bastard," the Spanish man growls in heavily accented in English. He draws a sword.
"It's always good to you again Spain," the captain mocks.
The Spanish captain's face contorts in rage and he charges. "I'll kill you this time!" The captain draws his own sword and their blades meet with a clear ringing sound. They quickly disappear into the smoke and chaos on the deck of the Spanish ship, fighting the entire time.
Watching the fighting is awful. There is blood everywhere, men screaming as they are dealt final blows. The smoke grows thick as the fire spreads, making my eyes water and my throat burn. Finally I turn away, coughing violently into my hand, unable to watch anymore. This is the most horrible thing I've ever seen. I can't believe I ever thought pirates were cool.
"Yes, I believe that's quite enough of that isn't it," a man says, distaste clear in his tone.
I start, recognizing the voice instantly as the captain's. Whirling around I see the captain, except he is now dressed in a green military uniform and wearing an expression of disgust as he watches the fight aboard the other ship.
"You!" I gasp. "But! You were!" I glance helplessly at the other ship before turning back to the man in front of me. He's definitely the captain, but how can he possibly be in two places at once? Not that I should be surprised at the impossible happening after what has just happened to me.
"Yes that's me," the man in front of me says. "I'm afraid I was a bit of a scallywag when I was young…" As he trails off I am irritated to see that he doesn't look apologetic. If anything I'd say his expression is nostalgic, a faraway look in his eyes.
"So who the hell are you anyways?" I snap at him when he doesn't say anything else.
The man's attention snaps back to me and he gives me a sheepish look. "Don't worry I'll explain everything. But perhaps you'd like to get out of here first?" Without waiting for my answer- not like I would have said 'no' anyways- he turns away from me and reaches a hand out in the empty air. A door abruptly appears in front of him as if it had been there all along and he turns the knob. I stare at him and the door in disbelief. "After you, my lady," he says politely, offering me a deep bow as he pushes the door open.
This is insane. Completely insane. But is it anymore insane then being on a pirate ship that's making a raid? Maybe, but at this point I will take the unknown behind the door rather than stay and watch the hell behind me. Without any more hesitation I stride through the door. And then promptly freeze in shock. Drawing in a sharp breath I manage to ask, "Where the hell are we?"
"Yes, I'm sorry this is so sudden. Let me introduce myself properly first," the man says, as he closes the door behind him. "I am Great Britain. And this is the World Conference!"
Author's Note
I hoped you liked it! I don't really have any idea where this story is going or if I'm going to continue it or not. I just had this awesome idea (which I'm totally in love with by the way) and had to write it down and then I figured I might as well post it. I guess the continuation of this story will be based on how well this idea sticks around in my head and its reception.
Relating to the disclaimer it's the whole 'world nations inside a globe' that I'm borrowing from Atama Ga Kuru Teru. However, to the best of my knowledge, the 'going into the nation's histories' (which is what Jordan did) is my own original idea. That's pretty much the basis for my story so we'll see how it goes. So yea. Like I've already said (this is what the third time?) I absolutely love it.
Also I've seen the first two seasons of Hetalia and I'm now working my way through the third (in Japanese), but it's not one of my main fandoms so I'm so sure how well I'm going to do keeping everyone in character and keeping Hetalia's tone. As I said before I really do love this idea though. The other thing I'm not sure about is doing any pairings. Originally I wasn't going to do one, but I'm thinking now that a reverse harem thing with Jordan would be kinda fun and I think I'd enjoy the challenge. Anyways if you liked it and want me to write more your feedback about the above issues would be appreciated.
PLEASE REVIEW! Whether you liked this story or not I would really like some feedback. I'm new to this fandom so I want to know how this story fits into it if it does at all. And it's always nice to just have the 'It was awesome!' messages. And if you didn't like it please tell me why.
Thanks for reading!
imagination junkie
