Hello! I just wanted to note that I don't speak Hungarian, and I find it tiresome to give constant—and likely inaccurate from Google—translations, so whenever the characters speak it I have it in italics. I'll do that for every language that's not English in future chapters as well. Also (in my headcanon) the nations have their own universal language that they speak in addition to their native ones, so that's what the "gibberish" is.
Copy Camp
Elizaveta chewed on the eraser of her pencil, beyond bored as her math teacher droned on about logorithms or algorithms or some kind of –ithms. Instead of taking notes, she was looking back and forth between the nose of her friend Andras and the nose she had drawn for him in her notebook. It was difficult to make the nose perfect, but mostly because of angles; real-Andras was two rows ahead and one seat to the right of her, sitting perfectly upright, while drawing-Andras was a right-profiled figure lying horizontally on a couch.
She decided to come back to Andras later, moving instead to the sketch of their other friend Sebestyen. Drawing-Sebestyen was stretched over drawing-Andras, one hand on the back of the couch, both boys in only their boxers (she was in school; she had to keep it at least PG-13), foreheads just slightly touching, as if they were about to kiss.
Liz sighed as she looked over at Andras again, and then to Sebestyen next to her. How she wished they would get together for real; they would be such a cute couple! Too bad both were straighter than a ruler.
"Excuse me?" A small voice piped up as its owner knocked on the classroom door. Liz glanced up and recognized the girl as one of the student employees from the main office.
"Yes, what is it?" The teacher asked.
"Miss Elizaveta Hedervary needs to come down to the office."
"Hedervary, you're dismissed." The teacher waved a hand at her and resumed the lesson, even though all eyes were on Liz as she gathered her things and left.
"So what's this about?" Liz asked the girl as they made their way through the halls.
"Your mother is here," she replied.
"My mom? What for?"
"She said she needs to take you home."
When they arrived at the office, Liz was immediately pulled into the tightest hug she'd ever received from her mother, and then led swiftly out the door to the parking lot without so much as a word. The entire drive back, the woman just kept looking at Liz and then back at the road, muttering to herself under her breath.
Liz tried several times to ask what was going on, but her mom would not answer her. Finally, when they pulled into the driveway, her mother faced her and put her hands on the teen's shoulders.
"Elizaveta, I don't want you to be scared by the people you're about to meet, or what they are going to ask you to do. Just listen to what they have to say, and remember that you have the right to say no. Do you understand?"
"Mom, what are you—"
"Do you understand, Liz? That you can say no?"
Liz blinked, a bit thrown off, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, I understand."
"Alright." Her mother nodded back, taking a deep breath before turning and getting out of the car. Liz got out as well and followed her up the path to the front door. She suddenly noticed the small blue sedan parked in the street; that must be the mystery people's car.
Inside, she heard voices coming from the living room. They weren't speaking Hungarian, and it didn't sound like English (which Liz was mostly fluent in). One voice was slightly nasally, and sounded male, ringing loudly throughout the old house, especially when it laughed. The other voice was higher, more feminine, and while it was not quiet, it was definitely much softer than the male voice.
Liz's father walked in from the kitchen then, carrying a tray with five teacups on it. "Oh, thank goodness you're back," he sighed heavily. "I haven't understood a thing going on here for the past ten minutes; they just started speaking nonsense!"
"Who are they?" Liz demanded, hoping to maybe get a clear answer from her father.
"I'll introduce you," he replied with another heavy sigh. Liz frowned, growing more irritated, but trailed into the living room after her parents.
On the expensive chintz couch sat two people; a man and a woman. The man was tall, but hardly looked older than 20. He had short blonde hair with a strange cowlick sticking out, bright blue eyes, and square-framed glasses. He wore a tan sort of military suit, but didn't look too comfortable in it, as he kept pulling at the collar and loosening the silky green tie. He didn't notice the family enter, still laughing obnoxiously and yelling in that gibberish language.
The woman was what made Liz pause in the archway—it was, well, Liz. Or a slightly older version of her, maybe three or four years. The woman's chest was a little fuller, facial features a little more matured (plus she was wearing a dress—something Liz would never be caught dead in), but everything else was perfect: same long, thick brown hair, same green eyes, same everything. She was the one who looked over at the family, cutting off the man as she said something to him.
His eyebrows furrowed in response, and then he turned to examine them. Or was he just examining Liz? His eyes widened almost comically, mouth forming into an 'o' shape. He quickly turned to his companion and started to speak more excited gibberish.
"Excuse me!" Liz shouted, shutting up the man very suddenly. "Who are you?"
The man's eyebrows furrowed again, and he looked to the woman for help.
"I'm sorry, dear," the woman said to Liz. "My colleague doesn't speak Hungarian. Do you speak English?"
"Yes," Liz replied.
"Wonderful," the woman said with a smile, switching languages fluidly.
"Good! English! Now we're all on the same page!" The man cried, a grin brightening his face once more.
"Who are you?" Liz repeated.
"America!" the man shouted.
"Not where are you from; who are you?" Liz was steadily getting more impatient with the strangers.
"America," the man said again. "As in 'The United States of,' USA, the greatest country on the planet! Come on, dude, keep up!"
"What are you—"
"Stop confusing the girl," the woman chided, smacking the man's arm and then focusing her attention back to Liz. "Dear, why don't you sit down, and I'll explain everything."
Liz looked to her parents skeptically, but her mother simply nodded to her, hanging back by the doorframe, and her dad ignored her to go set the tea tray on the coffee table. Rolling her eyes, she strode over and dropped heavily into the armchair across from the couch. She crossed her arms and stared at the woman, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
"Dude, she's just like you!" The man shouted (it was starting to become apparent that this was his normal speaking volume), and he again began to laugh loudly.
"Elizaveta, do you know what nations are?" The woman spoke over her colleague.
"Like countries? Yes, of course."
"No, I mean like personifications; a physical, human-like representation of a country. Have you heard of those?"
"I think we studied them a bit in history class. Why?"
"Me and my exuberant friend here are nations," she said. "As he said, he's America—"
"Greatest nation in the world!"
"Yes, yes, quiet now." She punched his arm again. "And I am Hungary."
Liz just blinked. "You're nations? But you look so…" Liz trailed off, suddenly aware that the end of that sentence would be very rude.
"Human? Normal?" The woman, Hungary apparently, finished for her anyway. "Yes, we all look very much human, which brings me to my next point; do you know how nations work?"
"I know you're born and die with the country you represent, and that you can't die otherwise. You always fight with your army in wars, and your emotions determine the weather," Liz recited. It was the basic information she remembered from her textbook—in all honesty, they hadn't learned that much about nations.
"Where'd that last one come from?" America cut in. "'Cuz that'd be a freakin' nightmare if that's how the weather worked! It also doesn't make any sense; Iggy never cries and it's always raining there! Well, there was that one—"
"You're mostly right, dear," Hungary grabbed a cookie off of a plate on the table and stuffed it into America's mouth. "Except for that weather thing, all of your facts were basically true. There's also another facet of nations that was discovered more recently; Copies."
"Copies?" Liz repeated.
"It is the term we use for, well—"
"Clones," America said, spraying cookie crumbs from his mouth, as he had proceeded to grab three more.
"Humans, normal humans," Hungary clarified. "Ones that look exactly like us nations. We have found that each of us has one, which brings me to the reason why we're here."
"Wait, what do you mean clones?" Liz stood, stomping her foot angrily. "Is that what you think I am? Some clone of you?"
"No, no, quite the opposite dear. Please sit back down."
Liz defiantly crossed her arms again, staring down at the nation, who sighed in response.
"Very well. You see, the way we are understanding Copies is that since nations are not normal humans, we had to be modeled after something, or rather someone from our own country. So we believe that we took on the appearance of a citizen from when the country was made, and now there must always be a citizen modeled after us. So in a roundabout way I am a clone of you."
"And how are you so sure that I'm your… Copy?" Liz asked.
"Come here, dear." Hungary stood and gently took Liz's elbow, tugging her over to a decorative mirror that hung on the wall. "Do you see?"
Of course Liz saw; she'd seen it when she first looked at the woman, and now looking in the mirror was making the comparison even more striking.
"So why are you here?" Liz faced Hungary again, but it wasn't the woman who answered.
"To take you to my place!" America appeared behind them in the mirror.
"What!" Liz demanded, and Hungary quickly elbowed her friend in the gut.
"What America means is that we have an offer for you."
"What kind of offer?" Liz's eyes narrowed.
"You see, there is a certain danger that comes with being a Copy: because you look just like a nation, there is a possibility of being targeted by other nations."
"But—"
"Please let me finish, dear," Hungary said kindly. "Now, since we were worried about the safety of all you Copies, we created a boarding school of sorts, based in America. It is called the International Academy. We currently have about 50 students attending, and we were hoping you would join them."
"So you want to just ship me off to some compound for clones!"
"No! Please, please listen Eliza."
"Don't call me that! I am not going to—"
"Hey!" America cut in. "How 'bout you sit down, shut up, and listen for five minutes instead of just yelling at us!"
"America!" Hungary cried. "This is a scary thing for her; now you sit down, shut up and eat a cookie."
Liz glanced to her parents while the nations argued, slipping into their gibberish language when Hungary pulled America over to a corner to resume their discussion more quietly. The Hedervary's just shrugged, frowns painted on both of their faces. After a minute more of nonsensical bickering, Liz finally had enough.
"Excuse me!" She yelled, cutting both nations off mid-sentence. "I think it is time for you to leave."
Hungary sighed. "Elizaveta, I did not mean to upset you."
"I'm not going to your clone prison, and you can't make me."
"It is not a prison," the woman replied sternly. "And we don't intend to force you to go, although we will encourage it strongly. As I said before, it is simply a boarding school, and the only reason for it is to keep all the Copies in one place so they may not be mistaken for the nations. Every student has chosen to be there of their own free will."
Liz took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Continue."
"Our offer is for you to visit the school. Come and have a tour, talk to the students, and then decide whether or not you want to attend."
"And you both knew about this?" Liz rounded on her parents, switching back to Hungarian.
"Yes," her father replied, "they explained it when they arrived."
"You can say no," her mother said. "Remember, you have every right to say no."
"That is true," Hungary said, still in English. Liz assumed it was for the sake of her colleague. "However, as I said, we do encourage you to attend for your own safety."
"She is perfectly safe here," Mrs. Hedervary snapped.
"It is simply a precaution," Hungary said, an edge in her voice now.
"To pull her out of school and dump her in another country!"
"She would still be in school, and it is like a cultural exchange program! She'll meet students from all over the world—"
"I'll visit!" Liz quickly stepped in between the two women, who were shooting death glares at each other from opposite sides of the room. "I will do the whole visit thing, and then I will decide. Is that alright with everyone?"
"Yes!" America shouted. He had spent the last couple minutes eating cookies and pouting on the couch. "Great! We got you three plane tickets for Friday at 11:35."
"How did you know I'd say yes?" Liz frowned.
"We didn't," America shrugged. "We just figured it'd be easier to cancel them if you said no than to book them on such short notice if you said yes."
"We'll take care of everything, dear," Hungary put in, smiling once again, although it seemed rather strained. "Don't worry."
An awkward silence descended after that. Liz could tell that her mother and Hungary were still fuming, even if the nation was working hard not to show it.
"Well, we should get goin'!" America grabbed Hungary's shoulders and began to steer her to the front door. "It was good to meet you Elizaveta, Mr. and Mrs. Hedervary. We'll see you all on Friday."
Before the door was even completely shut, Liz sprinted down the hall to her bedroom. She barricaded her door with her desk chair and pulled out her cell phone to send a text to Sebestyen.
Hey seb, meet at park after school. Bring andras + sweets
Then she opened the window and swung out into the garden. Her brown boots left large prints in the dirt as she ran off in the direction of the park.
APHAPHAPH
Well there it is! What do you all think?
I'll see you next chapter!
~Chocochino =D