Title: Veil
Rating: Pg – 13 / Eventual – M
Summary: Escaping an arranged marriage he never wanted with a prince he couldn't stand, Arthur Kirkland found himself on a planet not-quite-as-dead as he had been taught. AU
A/N: Here starts my first official Hetalia fanfic. This idea was born from many things, though the main world is based off of a side story in the manga 'Planet Ladder'. This particular storyline came to me as I have come out of a particularly dark period of my life. It may update slowly, and please forgive me for that, but I'll do my best to give you all a good quality, well written piece of fiction with every chapter.
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Prologue
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"I refuse to do this, Father," he yelled, slamming his fists into the dining room table as he faced off with the man who had raised him, cracking the thousand year old glass tabletop with the force of his blow. "I refuse to marry that bloody Frog!"
The graying man winces but stands his ground; he had known from the start that his son would be less than happy about the arraignment. "Listen here young man," he replies, voice laced with anger. "You've rejected all offers for marriage you've received over the past decade! This man who offered, he is the last prince of the planet Gaul, Arthur, the only one left in the galaxy who will take you!"
"I don't want him, Father; I don't want anyone at all!" Arthur replied, lips curling in a sneer as his father sat back into his chair with a heavy thigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Father, when I was younger you promised me that you would not force me into a marriage with someone I did not love-"
"-Bugger it all Arthur, when I made that promise I never thought that you would reach the age of succession without finding a husband!" The King yelled, eyes screwed shut as he leaned forward, rubbing his forehead with his hands. "The law explicitly states that you cannot inherit the throne of Britannia without-"
"-first having a spouse, I know, Father," Arthur replied. "But please, Father, you don't understand, Francis-"
"-is the only one at this point who is even willing to consider marriage, Arthur. The other seven planetary Royal Families of the Eight-Alliance are unwilling to even meet with me. Please, my son," the King slumped in his chair, looking older and frailer than Arthur had ever seen him before, "-just meet with him. Just once."
"…Alright."
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Even though he had promised Father, Arthur couldn't follow through.
Tucked safely away in the cockpit of a ship he had 'borrowed' to 'meet with Prince Francis' Arthur sped through the solar system, faster than light speed as he contemplated his next move. He couldn't go to Gaul, the moment he stepped off the ship he would be pounced upon by that perverted Frog Prince who would more than likely drag him into bed and soon after a chapel where their union would become officially recognized, regardless of what his father said.
With trembling fingers he lifted a steaming cup of Earl Grey (actual Earl Gray and not the synthetic kind, it had been a wedding gift from his mother) to his lips, taking a sip and savoring the flavor of the tea before placing the porcelain cup back onto its spot on the console while he quickly assessed his options. Germania was also out, the stuffy Prince Ludwig and his 'wife' Feliciano would have him on a ship to Francis before he could even off-load, knowing full well that harboring him would be seen as an inter-planetary felony.
Even Asiatica, the largest of the planets would not keep him for more than a week, Emperor Yao knew better than to risk the wrath of both Germania and Gaul coming after him. He shuddered, slumping further into his seat as he pulled up a star chart, looking dejectedly at it as he picked up the cup of tea once more, sipping again.
If only there were somewhere where he could hide, he thought, make a new start for himself, live out his life in peace. Arthur had no desire to rule Britannia, preferring instead to leave it to his younger – and only surviving – brother, Peter. He wanted nothing of the political, loveless marriages that unified the Eight-Alliance, nor the unwanted advances of a man who was known system-wide as nothing more than a playboy, a man with whom fidelity might as well have been a curse word.
He counted off the planets as he viewed them on the chart, mentally crossing them off his list as he wondered where to go.
One…two…
…four…
…eight, nine..
Wait.
Arthur sat up straighter in his chair, tea cup clattering to the steel flooring of the ship unnoticed as he counted off the alliance planets.
There was one left.
He resisted the urge to reach out and grab the projection of the star-chart, leaning down to peer between Aegyptus and Siberios. There, just between them was a sanctioned-off planet cast in shadow, one he had never seen before.
Underneath the projection of the dark sphere, written in the same green-white script as the rest, the planet's name read Americana.
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"This place…" Arthur stood aboard the display bridge, looking down through the expansive planes of viewing-glass that covered the walkway at the planet below as his ship circled high above the atmosphere. "It's…beautiful…" he murmured, checking his com-link as it processed the information on the atmosphere, the water, the soil content from a probe he had sent down hours before. One-by-one each of the meters displayed lit green, deeming the planet safe for travel.
Smiling a little he walked back to the control room, he couldn't help but wonder why this planet had been sanctioned off, marked as unpopulated and uninhabitable by the Eight-Alliance thousands of years ago.
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Two hours later, on-planet and exiting his ship with little more than his space-suit and re-breather, Arthur Kirkland discovered that Americana was not quite as unpopulated as he had thought.
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"Bugger."