Fan fiction: Axis Powers Hetalia
Genre: Horror & Mystery
Rated: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing
CHAPTER 1:
Silence… It surrounds you like air, its presence of sound so low you are tempted to break its surface with the slightest movement of sound possible.
The leaves on the ground rustled restlessly. The cool wind caressed his hot cheek.
The Great Kingdom of Britain crouched silently behind a wide tree; his heart was pounding as he caught his breath.
He was well damned exhausted and in pain. Running—limping to be precise, his ankle was sprained for some reason—around the dark forest for hours (or so he thought) with just only a wooden stick and a tiny flashlight keychain can tire anyone out.
Dressed in only his green-striped pajamas underneath a thin blue bathrobe, England shivered like a baby leaf.
For some reason, his magic would not work, not matter what method he tried. It's like this place was…immune or something, which scared him greatly.
England could not remember how he ended up here in the first place, all he could recall was waking up on the ground, being surrounded by sheer blackness and having to watch someone cut open some corpses under the brightness of a mere candle.
He shivered; the child's smile was creepy as hell…almost as creepy as that psycho Spaniard...
Someone had probably sneaked him out of the house and left him behind, abandoned in some random woods (with a psycho-killer on the loose, no less) thinking it was some harmless prank… England felt his blood boil. If he caught whoever was responsible for this, they were going to—
The sound of crunching leaves awoke him from his thoughts. He pressed his back against the tree, slightly peeking from the left.
…Big mistake.
Under the dim glow his flashlight provided, a pair of black eyes met his pale green ones. Its eyes were completely black, thin streams of red trickled down to its pale cheeks. Despite that its mouth was sewn together with thick black thread, England could see the crooked smirk form on its pale face as it grabbed him by the wrist. Its other hand held a razor stained with red.
"FoUnD yOu~" it seemed to say, giggling like an innocent child.
From a stranger's point of view, he may think that they were playing hide and seek, and the child had found the one who hides. But from England's point of view, he may think that they were playing hide-and-go-kill instead.
Before the person could say anything else, England tore himself from its grip and stabs it with his wooden stick. And with that, he made a run for it.
"Oh bloody hell…" he cursed under his breath, making a sharp turn to his right,
England didn't know where he was headed too, but he was sure that he had to find someplace to hide. Threading through the foggy mist enveloping the area, England could hear faint laughter from behind him.
"Hon Hon Hon Hon~"
England stopped and turned toward the sound but saw nothing. "F-france? Frog? Is that you?"
No reply…
England shook his head, convincing himself that he was just hearing things…
"Hon Hon Hon Hon~"
England clenched his fist "Damn it frog! If this is all just a sick joke, I want out of it, okay? You win! I'm freaking exhausted. So come out and let's get out of here…already…"
"… I'M gLaD To HeAr ThAt…"
A chill ran down England's spine.
The temperature seemed to drop all of a sudden, his body growing numb with ever decreasing number.
England wanted to scream, scream so loudly it could be heard all the way to China's house. But as he sucked in some air, no sound came about.
The psycho child he was running away from made its appearance from behind the trees, moving towards him in a ghoulish manner. With a smirk, it wrapped its pale arms around his neck, its head resting by the crook of his neck.
England's breathe hitched.
"…LeT's HaVe SoMe FuN, sHaLL wE~"it whispered in his ear.
England let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream.
"Man…my head hurts like hell…"
"Hon hon hon hon~ Mon cher… Last night was fantastique…"
"The fountain was overflowing with beer!"
"…Tomatoes everywhere~ Fusososososo~"
Netherlands wacked a pillow at the dreaming Spaniard's drooling face, annoyed, "Oi! Enough of your damn tomatoes already…"
Spain rubbed his eyes lazily, turning over to his front side, giving Netherlands a pout, "You don't get mad when Romano does it. And it happens every time!"
Netherlands ignored him and slumped back into his sleeping bag, exhausted.
The nations were sprawled across the floor of USA's living room beneath sheets of blankets, pillows and sleeping bags. They had slept over (forced too) at USA's place after his birthday party, since USA claimed that it was part II of the party and he promised free food…and beer (*cough* Prussia *cough* Denmark *cough*).
"Hey! Why are you all still in bed?" Germany stood below the flight of stairs, annoyed. He was fully dressed, hair combed neatly and ready for the day. "IT'S EIGHT O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. GET UP AND GET READY FOR THE DAY! YOU'LL LOOSE PRECIOUS TIME IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!"
USA groaned from behind the couch, "I'm not usually up till ten…" Cue groans of agreement.
Taiwan sat up and rubbed her eyes "Hey… what date is today?"
"The sixth day of July, why?" answered Hong Kong, coming out from the bathroom.
USA's eyes widened in realization, "SHIT! DUDES! WE'VE BEEN PASSED OUT FOR LIKE, 48 HOURS STRAIGHT!"
"That's impossible," Germany scoffed "Today is the 5th of July… We couldn't have possibly passed out that long...right?"
Silence…
"My boss is going to kill me…" mumbled Iceland, burying his face in his hands in despair.
"It was the beer's fault…." Denmark said, shooting his hands up in defense "It tempted me into its sexy trap and I fell for it! ;AAAA; /sobs/…"
USA then went back under the covers and yawned, "I'm calling YOLO on this one. -3- "
Silence once more… :D
Austria sat up and started folding his used sheets.
Romania snickered, "Nice shorts, Aristocrat…"
Austria's face reddened as he attempted to cover his Donald Duckie boxers, "It was a gift from Feliciano… DON'T JUDGE ME! oAo"
"I'll make breakfast…" Sweden says
"I'll help!" said Ukraine and Belgium
"Me too! Ve~" said North Italy, literally bouncing his way to the kitchen
"Don't forget the coffee!" called France
"You better keep the damn Brit out of there." Turkey mumbled from his pillow
Spain shot up from his spot "Speaking of Inglaterra…" he shuffled from his sheets and grabbed a marker from the coffee table. He gestured to the Brit sleeping next to South Korea.
"France! Prussia!" he wiggled his eyebrows, marker at hand. "Moustache? Or Glasses?"
France laughed "Add in Potter's scar...or bananas…" wink-wink
Hungary smacked him on the head "You buffoons are so immature…"
The Brit didn't stir—which was unusual since he was a very light sleeper— as France and Spain doodled on his face. France even wrote 'Made in France' on the lower part of England's neck.
Romania and South Korea burst out laughing "This is priceless…"
Hong Kong took a quick shot with his cell phone, "More blackmail material…" he mumbled
"Pranks was originated from Korea, da-ze~"
"Dude!" exclaimed USA, a grin was plastered on his face "That is just sick! Hey Hong, send me a copy. I want blackmail material too—Canada, dude! You've got to check this out bro!"
Spain nudged at the sleeping Prussian next to him "Mi amigo! You've got to see this." But the Prussian did not stir, not even a twitch.
Spain tilted his head, confused by the lack of reaction and started to shake him more "Prussia? Prussia? Dio mio… Wake up!" he gave him a few harsh slaps, and by now, Prussia's face resembled Spain's handpicked tomatoes.
"Is something wrong?" Iceland inquired, standing next to him
"He won't wake up…"
"Canada won't wake up too." USA walked towards them, hauling the sleeping Canadian's body on his shoulder. "Usually he wakes up at this ungodly hour—maybe ever earlier, plus, he's a light sleeper too…"
All the countries in the living room shared a mask of confusion; eyes zooming towards the eight other sleeping figures on the floor: Japan, China, Belarus, Finland, South Italy, Greece, and Norway and… England.
"You think they had too much to drink?" Denmark said jokingly
"Knowing my bruder, probably…"Germany commented
The rest of the nations were now lounging at the living room. The rest of the breakfast sat on USA's coffee table, hot and freshly-made, but no one was eager to eat any of it at the moment.
The eight bodies of their fellow countries were laid across one of the beds in USA's guestrooms, all snuggled together like sardines—though, USA insisted Canada's body would be perfectly fine with him, and South Korea didn't want to leave China alone either.
"My sister hardly drinks." Russia admitted "Belarus, I mean. She's not fond of alcohol, but she'd drink if I told her… da."
"Nihon too… da~ze."
"You think USA spiked the food or something?" Turkey accused, glaring at all the food piled up on the coffee table.
"That's impossible!" exclaimed Ukraine "I mean, if he did spike the food, we should have been affected too. And I doubt USA would ever harm his brother and England, or us. Right?"
"Yeah!" USA stands up from his chair all of a sudden, causing Canada's sleeping body to fall to the floor "I'd never hurt you guys, especially my bro and Iggy. And if I did, I would have done it a long time ago. Not that I have any intentions or anything…"he adds hastily, then sees Canada's body "Oops… Sorry bro."
"UUWAAH! Aniki's dead isn't he?" cried South Korea, flapping his arms around vigorously "Who am I going to claim breasts too if he's gone? da-ze…" he then threw himself on top of China's body "UUWAAH! Big Brother!"
"Oi! Get a hold of yourself! Aniki isn't dead!" scolded Taiwan "You see his chest moving right? He's not dead for heaven's sake. Have you given up on him already?"
South Korea stared at her through teary eyes, snot leaked from his nose. "Aniki…"
The rest sat their silently, not knowing what to say next.
"Ve~ their probably just snoozing!"North Italy reassured with a smile, chewing on a chocolate biscotti. "I mean, they probably don't want to wake up yet about a good dream. I know I wouldn't~."
Austria grumbled "You're saying as if they want to be left as a living corpse…"
Something clicked in Romania's mind upon hearing that word. He had been browsing through his spell books and notepads for something that's similar to the situation at hand. But now, it made perfect sense.
Dreams…Nightmares…
Of course…
He placed his coffee mug down on the table "Their stuck." he stated.
USA blinked "Stuck? Stuck how?"
"H-have you ever thought about what happens while you sleep? Ever have questions why dreams or nightmares even occur? Also having second thoughts if it could really happen in reality?"
All heads turned towards the speaker. Romania shifted in his seat, uncomfortable by the sudden attention.
"Yeah," Turkey grunted, devouring a large portion of his waffle. "What's does that have to do with anything?"
"Don't tell me they actually want to stay in a comatose state." Austria said in disbelief
"What I meant was," Romania explained "When you go through the process of slumber, your mind wanders. Wanders through the realm of sleep, experiencing what the mind often fears and also craves for. When you're lucky, you find your way back. If not, you get mislaid, drifting through trees of deceptive illusions till...well…till you find your way back or get unstuck, I guess…"
Hungary gasped "What do you mean you guess? There are instances that they can never come back?"
Romania flipped through his notepad "Well, comatose can often extend to several years, wherein the body—or the physical vessel to be precise—will be present in this world and still be able to age, but the mental host is will still be absent."
"But how come we were able to go back?" Sweden asks
"Like I just said, we were just lucky."
The room was silent for a moment, each processing of what just the Romanian country had just explained. Across the white leather couch, Mr. Puffin pressed its yellow beak on to Iceland's cheek comfortingly as the country twiddled with his fingers. Looking up from his hands, Iceland said "Does Norway know? Or Britain? Of the realm you say? I mean, you three practice magic. They ought to know, right?"
Romania bit his lip "Actually… It's only I who knows about this."
"What?! How come?" exclaimed Denmark
"Norway and England have their thing for curiosity. And you know the saying 'Curiosity kills the cat.' It was risky for them to know. And the area was declared unstable by West Rome, Britannia and Mother Greece themselves, so I had to stay clear." Romania said defensively
The room was silent once more, only for the exception of the sound of shallow breaths and the clanging of china.
"So what now?" Sweden intrigued. If you knew Sweden long enough, you may learn to see through his scary face and come to see the more emotional mask of his. And right now, he was damn worried.
Romania scratched his chin "Well, the better chance of taking action is right now, I guess. If we want them back, we might as well do this as soon as possible. Hey Bulgaria, you mind fetching the chalk and candles in my suitcase?"
"What would happen if we wait it out?" asks Ukraine
"Like us, we were able to get back. The difference is, the dream or nightmare they are probably experiencing is so intense that it distracted them from the straight path and mislead them to some other pathway that lead to who knows where. So yeah… the longer we wait the more possibilities they get more lost."
"Lost. You mean gone astray?" says Italy
"No… Lost meaning gone, dead."
Bulgaria's footsteps could be heard coming down from the stairs "I've got the chalk and candles!"
"Wait!" said France, standing up from his chair. Raking his hair with his long fingers, he chuckled nervously "Are you sure you're not just overreacting? I mean, for god's sake, maybe they are just living in some dream world and are enjoying it. Who knows, maybe they're going to revive any minute now."
"Are you saying we just leave them be?" said Spain angrily, stepping closer to his friend, a menacing aura emitted from his body. "Like Romania said, they could even get more lost and deceived as more time flies! Do your really want are chances in helping them grow slim?"
"Not cool dude!" exclaimed USA to France, placing Canada's body down flat on the floor.
"Da..." agreed Russia (cue scary)
"You know that's not what I meant!" France said with a glare "I know your worried about Romano and Prussia and England and Russia's sister but now is not the time to—" Spain had grabbed France's collar with one hand, his other forming into a fist. Russia and USA close behind him.
"Stop it! Please! Your not helping the situation." pleaded Belgium
"Let them be." chuckled Turkey "I love to see how this turns out."
"Oh, so it's a fight you want?" threatened Denmark; his fingers gripped his battle axe tightly. "It was probably you who drugged the eight and started all of this!"
"Denmark..." Sweden warned
"Ohohoh… Putting the blame onto other now, are we?" By now, the Turk and Dane looked ready to brawl.
Beneath the midst of the chaos, Romania stood by the rear lines, irritated. He felt his nerve about to burst. Seriously, big brother Italy and the others are lost somewhere in the forbidden zone, and now the people they hope for a rescue are now acting like children.
His nerve had finally raptured as a hamburger was thrown straight to his face. The tips of his fingers were starting to ignite black sparks.
Bulgaria, sensing the mood, took a step back from his best friend "Romania..."
Romania clasped his hands together, and slowly, the room started to dim, till it was completely dark.
The noise had halted, till you could hear a pin drop. Sighing, Romania unclasped his hands and the room lit its self as fast as it got dark.
"Now," he said darkly "I want your cooperation in this. Or so help me, I'll do this alone, leave the rest to die and save big brother Italy, Norway and England alone."
North Italy smiled a little at the mention of his older brother.
"You wouldn't dare..." threatened Russia, raising his pipe. Instantaneously, the living room windows shattered into pieces.
"Yes... I would dare." he said with a straight face
The rest stared in shock.
"Ja." says Germany. He then turns his attention to Romania "So... what do you need us to do?"
Romania smiled "I need six volunteers and a very sharp knife."