Ahh... I seem to be unable to stop myself from dishing out crossovers with Fate/Stay Night. This one is with Hetalia.
YES.
HETALIA.
No, there isn't going to be any crack but there will be some funny moments, I promise. At least, the readers will find it funny.
Anyways, that's not quite it. This is a crossover with Fate/Stay Night and Hetalia, rather post HetaOni. The events of this post-HetaOni story did not end on a happy note as you will see later on in the story. I'd reveal what, but that would spoil things, wouldn't it?
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, HetaOni or Fate/Stay Night. I do, however, own the main character of this fic. If you've read some of my other stories, you will know that she is an OC.
2023 - The Aftermath of World War III
I used to love looking at sunsets.
But now I couldn't even look at them without being reminded of the colour of blood.
Several days of pure boredom had me sitting on the window ledge of the room I had been given.
The red and pinkish colours of the sky at that point of the day reminded me of the sanguine life that coursed through the veins of all living beings; particularly of those I killed. I may have gotten used to killing and could easily dispatch someone without batting an eyelash, but I took no pleasure in the act of taking lives.
If I killed people, I did it quickly. There was nothing to gain in drawing out a person's death and torturing people was something I saw as inhumane and condemned, no matter how far I'd fallen from grace.
There was also another reason I couldn't stand sunsets; they also reminded me too much of Saber and Archer.
Pulling my eyes away from the sight and banishing the memories to the back of my mind, my gaze landed on the black lance that rested against the wall.
Vanitas.
A weapon of dark fae origin that had been my constant companion for the past thirteen years. Because it was a weapon made by the mythical fae, it was far superior to anything constructed from human hands. Materials that came from the faerie folk were infused with magic and fae magic was the most powerful magic out there.
It was this very weapon that had allowed me to end the life of the tyrant who had set the world aflame three years ago.
Three years. It had been three years that the world had been embroiled in war and flames.
Three years that the streets flowed with blood.
Three years that the planet has practically been a wasteland.
And yet it felt like an eternity.
World War III had been as devastating and horrific as the people of the past predicted, possibly even more.
Nuclear warfare had rendered a little more than half of the world's lands uninhabitable thanks to the radiation. Ruins replaced where great cities had once stood and every where you looked, you could see bodies. And whatever resources we had left were limited, barely able to sustain the survivors of this world wide conflict.
I was not going to delude myself into thinking that things were going to get better. The world was on its last limb and there was no way that we would be able to fix this mess.
Not this time.
A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. Knowing that the person was going to enter regardless of whether I gave them permission or not, I told whoever it was to come in. The door opened and it took every bit of the cold persona I've adopted over the years not to react.
It was Shirou Emiya, the leader of the Resistance that I had been with for the past year and a half. He had come across me shortly after I escaped from the enemy's stronghold. I had collapsed at some point during the run and it was through sheer luck that he discovered me before the enemy's patrol did. He knew who I was, knew the dangers of being associated with me in any form and way and at great risk took me in regardless of the risks.
Though to be fair I was more useful to him alive than dead. Despite being the most wanted person on the planet at the time due to... my involvement in the deaths of several world representatives, I was the only one who actually stood a chance against him.
With his white hair that matched the colour of snow, his dark skin, and his grey eyes that were the same colour as steel he looked exactly like my former servant Archer. The only difference between the two of them was that the man in front of me had his hair down while Archer's had been slicked back.
Though why I kept reacting whenever Shirou entered the room was beyond me; I've already known for a while that Archer was an alternate future version of Shirou Emiya.
One of his many possible futures.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him. I didn't bother hiding the annoyance in my voice.
Shirou sighed, leaning against the door post as he stared at me. He was exhausted if the bags under his eyes were any indication, but there was a light in his eyes that hadn't been there before, even after the tyrant's reign had ended.
"They sent me to find you, Christina." He paused before raising an eyebrow. "Or is it Lia?"
'They' meaning the world representatives who were still alive and the humans who had enough steel to take a stand against the tyrant. After his death at my hands, they had gathered together to decide on what to do next. I hadn't been invited to the meetings they were having, but I took no offense to the fact. I had long ago lost any patience with having to sit in a room with other influential people and discuss the current issue and would have done more harm than good in whatever talks they were having.
Besides, their exclusion meant that didn't trust me even though I saved their ungrateful asses multiple times. Not that I minded since I was pretty used to not being trusted. The only one who even slightly trusted me at the moment was-
"Hey Shirou." I turned my head towards the man. "Do you trust me?"
The question left my mouth before I could stop myself. I could feel Shirou's gaze on me, but I had already turned back to the window I had been staring through before to avoid his stare. The sun had already set, so I was staring at the darkened sky of the night.
Was that a star I saw in the distance? Huh, hadn't seen any of those for a while.
"Why are you suddenly asking that?" Shirou finally spoke.
I contemplated saying 'nothing', but we both knew that would be a load of bull.
"Just a passing thought. You don't need to answer the question if you don't want to."
But Shirou, being the bleeding heart that he was even in a crapsack world like this where a lot of his friends were dead, decided that he would have none of that. I should know. I'd been working with him for more than a year. If he wanted answers, he usually got them otherwise he pulled out his twin swords Kanshou and Bakuya and started looming over people in a threatening manner or gave whoever was withholding information 'the look' until the person on the other end of it cracked and gave in.
It all depended on what side you were on.
Right now he was giving me the latter. I could tell because I'd become an expert in determining whether someone was trying to burn a hole into my head.
"Stare at me all you want, it's not going to do you any good."
Several minutes of silence passed as Shirou continued to stare and I continued to ignore him in return. While most people cracked under the pressure, I was one of the few who could resist and he knew it. Though I had to give him points in his persistence.
"Should we go then? The others are waiting." Shirou's voice breaking the silence indicated that he gave up. I couldn't help smirking at winning this round, but I wiped it off my face before turning to face him.
I nodded. I was less than enthusiastic in having to face the people that Shirou was bringing me to, but I had to face them some time. Might as well get the unpleasantries out of the way.
"Fine. Let's go."
Shirou stood up and I got off the window sill I had been sitting on. But before I followed him, I grabbed Vanitas from his position on the wall and left him materialized for all the world to see. From the expression on his face, the Resistance leader disapproved of me bringing me a weapon into the meeting room, but he didn't try and dissuade me either. He knew of the tension between me... and them.
"For all it's worth," I turned back to face the dark skinned man as he spoke. His expression had softened. "I trust you."
Ignoring Shirou's protests, I kicked the doors open as hard as I could. Seeing the startled expressions on their faces made me smirk.
"Long time no see." I grinned. "Did any of you miss me?"
Shirou groaned behind me, but I pretended that I didn't hear him. I agreed to come with him to the meeting, but I certainly did not agree to make things at the meeting easy. In fact, I planned on pissing off as many people as I possibly could and then laugh at their expressions later. In my opinion, they deserved the grief I planned on putting them through.
"Philia." A man with blond hair, blue eyes and five o'clock shadow spoke. "...it is good to see you. Though I understand if you never want to see us again."
"...um, yeah." Who was this guy again? He looked familiar, but I couldn't really tell from his unkempt appearance- "Holy crap, Germany?"
Okay, I guess I should explain why I called the man in front of me 'Germany'. For all those who remember the world before things went to hell in a hand basket, Germany happens to be a country in western central Europe. I'll be blunt and cut to the chase: the man who had greeted me is that very same European country. The personification of Germany. Germany in human form.
I'm sure that the first thought that would come to your mind if you're human would be: you're crazy. That would soon be followed by how is that possible? And how do I know this?
I'll get to that later once the meeting is over, so be patient.
Germany was a neat freak who completely believed in order, neatness and efficiency. He used to clean his house from top to bottom, not leaving a single speck of dust in his wake. And I know just how efficient he was in house cleaning because I used to envy his housekeeping skill.
That man with the unkempt appearance resembled the neat freak, but my mind was struggling to comprehend them as being the same person. Because truthfully, he looked like a bum.
The man just nodded and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He looked just as exhausted as Shirou, possibly even more. Now that I thought about it, everyone in the room looked as if they hadn't gotten any sleep in years.
I oddly sympathized with them there. But since I was used to the feeling of having not slept in an eternity, it hardly bothered me any more.
"Hey Lia." A woman with long golden hair and dark blue eyes smirked at me. "Heard you gave everyone here hell while you were on the run. Good job." She gave me a thumbs up and smirked.
"Considering they were all trying to kill me at the time, it was the least I could do. I wasn't going to die that easily; not without a fight, you know that Alex."
"And taking out most of the army in the process." Alex nodded again, smirk still in place.
Alex Tyson was, and still is, the most dangerous person in the world. She was genetically engineered, and as a result of said genetic engineering she had been granted fast reflexes and super strength. Her enhancements weren't the only things that made her dangerous as Alex was a brilliant tactician who had the backing of other genetically engineered children. Well, she used to any ways. But my point was that she was someone you did not want to piss off, as those who made the mistake of bringing her wrath down on themselves either ended up dead or driven to the deaths.
And by driven to their deaths, they took their own lives just to get away from her.
I suppose I should have told her to tone it down, but the people she had ever been angry at were the truly horrendous beings who deserved much worse.
Shirou groaned again. I didn't have to turn around to know that he was pinching the bridge of his nose, wishing that I would shut up and not agitate the majority of people in the room.
Too bad. They hadn't been on the run for more than three years, fighting off more than one side intent on taking my head off. And Shirou should really know by now that I never make things easy for people.
"Alright," I turned to the people in the room. "Let's not beat around the bush and get straight to the point: what do you need me for?"
That got me some glares.
"What makes you think that we need you for something?" Someone snapped, making me narrow my eyes at them. "Your actions over the past several years have proven that you can not be trusted-"
"Well," I drawled, interrupting what was going to be a long rant. "I highly doubt you brought me here to have a nice chat or sit me down for tea. So that means you need me for something. What is it?"
There was a long silence before Alex sighed, running a hand through her golden hair. She nodded at a brunet in a suit. Haven't seen those in a while either. Suits, I mean. I've seen plenty of brunets. No one really wore suits these days, what with all the wars going and everything.
"You had it last, right Tsuna?"
The brunet in question took something out of his pocket. It looked like a book...
"Where did you get that?" My breath hitched and I felt something in my chest constrict.
It was Italy's journal. I... hadn't seen that thing in years.
"The shop keeper. It was retrieved from your house and given to him by someone else." The blonde haired woman explained.
My eyes narrowed. The island I used to live on was fortified to the nines; I made sure of that myself. It was undetectable to anyone except those who were proficient in magic and even then, they wouldn't be able to break through. Not without severe injury or death resulting if they were even able to damage it at all.
"He said that you would know what to do with it."
My mouth went dry.
I had nearly forgotten about Italy's journal.
No, it wasn't Italy's journal any more. It was mine. It had been passed on to me after the previous owner's... disappearance.
"Yeah. I do." I was barely able to choke out the words.
Germany coughed, drawing everyone's attention to him. But his eyes were focused on me when he asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"What does it do?"
"It... allows whoever has a contract with this book to travel back in time." I flipped to the last page of the book and saw a list of names. They were the names of the previous contractors who had used the book to go back in time and change an event.
I saw Italy's name close to the bottom of the page and underneath hers...
...was mine.
"...and the current contractor of this book right now happens to be yours truly."
Finally! It took me forever to finish this one chapter because I was working on a bunch of research essays and stuff, but I finally managed to get it done.
In case you haven't realized it, this fic is going to be a little... dark. I won't make it depressing, but you should know its not going to be all sunshine and daisies. The main character of this fic is OC!Philippines and, well... she's changed. A lot. You'll see later on why. But if you want a hint as to how she changed, it's connected to the Crimson Queen.
As hinted by the title.