Um... Hello, everyone. Shadow here! (Starting a new fanfic/series is so awkward...)
Anyways, welcome, everyone, to my newest fanfiction, "Written in Blood". I know I shouldn't be starting this now, since I've just started working on the last "Soviet Insanity" fic, but since I get the feeling that this fic is going to take me absolute ages to write, I may as well get started, right?
For those who have read my "Hetalia Drabbles" fanfiction, yes, this is the full story that was referenced in drabbles one and five. However, those would have been from possible sequels to this, and as such, contain heavy spoilers. I will not be taking those drabbles down, but for those who do not want spoilers, I would steer clear of those stories in order to avoid finding out what will happen.
Basically, this story is exactly what it looks like. The "Hetalia" characters are attempting to survive, while the personification of Panem is attempting to kill them. As I said, the drabbles that people apparently liked were from sequel ideas, and therefore, this will be a slightly different premise than those stories.
Now, then, a bit (more) of an explanation. This being a crossover with "The Hunger Games", there are going to be some slight differences from my usual fics. In particular, I will not be focusing only on my personal favorite characters (the Baltics, Russia, and Belarus), but on as many nations as I can fit in and can reasonably keep track of.
Although this isn't your typical "Hunger Games"/"Hetalia" fanfiction, there will still be a good deal of character death. Also, there will be some rather in depth torture scenes later on. Therefore, it's rated T for a number of reasons, but, in short, it's rated T mostly for violence.
There will be two main parts to this story, and the first will focus on nations who may or may not have a continuing story in the second, while some nations may not appear at all until the second part. Therefore, if some nations are not shown immediately, there is a chance they will appear later.
If you have any suggestions for this story, please tell me. :) I may not follow your suggestions, but the speculations of readers feed my brain.
Also, accents. I am terrible at writing accents, particularly French and German, so if anyone has any tips on writing accents, PLEASE tell me!
This chapter and the next will be largely introductory chapters, introducing the majority of the major characters of this part. :) However, this chapter only features four of the victims... I mean, heroes! But in the next chapter, the rest of the group will appear.
Chapter One: Detonation
When the boy woke up, he didn't immediately remember that the whole world had crashed down on him. He didn't realize what had happened…he only knew he was in pain.
America could feel that his legs were stuck under something… He just didn't know what. He was almost afraid to open his eyes, for fear of what he might find outside the darkness behind his closed eyelids.
"What…happened…? Where…where am I?"
He raised his head, and, opening his eyes, tried to see if he recognized his surroundings. To his surprise, all he saw was a ruined building…and a small figure crouching next to him, apparently trying to clear the rubble from his half-buried form.
"Eng… England…?" America asked, "What…what are you doing?"
The older nation jumped, then adopted an expression that was both annoyed and relieved all at once.
"Oh, it's you," England said, "I thought you were Canada."
"Amazing occurrence number one-you remembered Canada's existence," America said, attempting to make a joke despite the obviously rather bleak and quite confusing circumstances, "And at the best time for you, too."
"You think you're awfully intelligent," England muttered, "Let me just remind you which one of us is buried up to his waist in rubble."
"Yeah…" America mumbled, "How'd I get here, anyways?"
"You don't remember?" England said grimly, "You don't remember what happened to the World Meeting because of your little…sister?"
"Oh…that's right…" America thought, "Panem."
He had found her years ago, sitting in his house, playing around with his stuff. And, despite the fact that she had appeared on his land, there was something about her that made it very obvious that she was like him, like Canada and England and the rest. A nation, just like them. So, he decided to be her big brother. He had never been a big brother before.
Her name was Panem… But, despite the fact that she appeared to be a personified nation, she didn't have any land at all… At first, that is.
He should have seen it coming-she was right in the middle of his place when he found her-but he hadn't even thought about it. He hadn't even considered the possibility of her turning against him.
Things had escalated strangely. They hadn't realized it at first, hadn't even connected the gradual change to Panem. The continents, changing shape. Some nations disappearing altogether under the waves, the scattered remnant of their citizens trying to escape what had befallen their homes. Somehow, even America was affected, although, almost as if to back up his assertion of his invincibility, he still had some land left, and it was to that remaining territory that most of the remaining people fled.
But then, what remained became a singular nation, and then, they realized what had happened. Panem, the child America had raised, was the personification of this single remaining nation. She was the nation that remained after what seemed to be the end of the world.
The others hadn't died. So, apparently, you didn't always die just because your country was dissolved. If they hadn't already known that from Prussia's example, they knew for certain now.
So, even though they weren't technically countries anymore, even though there was barely even a world anymore, someone had called a World Meeting. The only goal was to ask Panem to explain what was going to happen now-if she even knew. Sometimes you didn't know what your boss was planning, after all, so Panem might not know anything at all.
But some of them-like England and Germany-thought that Panem knew a great deal more than she had let on, and that getting all of the former nations together at the conference was the worst idea possible. As far as America knew, Italy had been the one to convince Germany to come, and he himself has enlisted France to drag England to the meeting-literally drag, if necessary.
It was once they were all there that things started to escalate. Panem had been there long before most of the others, and, once she took the stage, everything went quiet. Even France and England stopped their perpetual quarreling, and everything was suddenly very, very quiet.
America, who was sitting between a very annoyed England and a very quiet Canada, was barely listening as Panem spoke… For the first few seconds, that is. Then, the shouting began.
"What did she say?" America whispered to Canada, since England was busy yelling threats in Panem's direction.
"She said… She said that since we're no longer nations, our existence is no longer necessary," Canada whispered back, his indigo eyes wide, "She said… She said that we can die now.
"That's enough!" yelled someone-probably Germany, "I want to hear the rest!"
As Panem resumed her speech, America was, for once, listening intently. He was horrified by what he was hearing. This girl… The child he had raised… She wanted to kill them all, because she deemed them no longer useful? She thought of them as a threat, and not as her friends?
His shock must have shown on his face, because he could see several of the other nations-Lithuania, Canada, and, to his surprise, England and China-staring at him sympathetically.
"Vhat is zhis going to prove?" Austria interrupted the girl, "Vhat harm has any of us done to you, zat you vould vant to kill us?"
"It's not that you've done me harm," Panem said, "I simply don't see the usefulness of allowing your worthless lives to continue. If anything, you'll only cause confusion and dissension among my people. Therefore, I'll do you the favor of ending your miserable lives. Don't worry; you'll probably die quickly. Probably."
There was no response, but several countries exchanged worried glances. A few of the more nervous ones looked like they might be about to bolt for the door.
"Well," Panem said, "Since I'm the only official country here, I'm ending the meeting. So, enjoy the rest of your lives. By the way, this building is going to explode."
"Excuse me?" England shouted, "What did you just say?"
"This building is going to explode," Panem said, "So, I'll be leaving before it does."
And, with that, the girl strode out of the room, leaving the other nations completely confused.
Silence reigned for a moment…then, suddenly, there was a clattering noise as Romano sprang up, his chair falling to the floor.
"She said it's going to explode!" the Italian yelled, "Why are we still sitting here?!"
"I just thought she was joking…" Italy mumbled, "Is it going to explode, Germany?"
"Ask America!" England yelled, "The bloody idiot raised her, didn't he?"
All eyes in the room instantly focused on America, who suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.
"I dunno…" he mumbled, "I don't think she would…"
"Well, I am not waiting around to get exploded by some insane girl!" Romano yelled, "I'll be back later, if there's anything still here."
The dark-haired Italian turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Hey, Romano, come back!" Spain called. When there was no response, the other nation stood up and strode over to the door.
"I'll go get him," he said, smiling, "Be back soon."
Italy shifted uneasily in his chair.
"Germany…maybe we should go outside too… Just for a few minutes? Please?"
"All right, Italien," Germany said, "I don't trust Panem, and I honestly don't understand vhy ve haven't all left already."
"Because ve are more awesome than you, obviously," Prussia said with a laugh, "Zere's nothing to be scared of, West."
Germany ignored this comment, instead turning toward the door, along with Italy.
"Do you think it would be best for us all to go?" Canada whispered to America, "Just in case she's telling the truth…"
"She's not telling the truth, silly…" America said with an uneasy laugh, "She's just… Joking."
"Then what happened?" America asked, "I don't…I don't really remember…"
"The other end of the building blew first," England said grimly, "It gave some of us time to get out or take cover. I don't know who made it out and who didn't…but I had to come back and see if I could find anyone."
"Do you…do you think they're okay?" America asked.
England sighed.
"I found Ukraine and Finland…both dead. So, Panem was telling the truth when she said we were no longer immortal. We're vulnerable now. She'll be back, I'm certain, so we'd best check for other survivors and then get out of here."
"R-right," America said, "Uh… Can you help me? My legs are still kind of…"
"Oh, right," England said, "They're mostly uncovered now-I was working while you thought over the situation. Can you move them?"
"Yeah…" America said, "They hurt, though."
"I'd imagine so," England said dryly. "Now, come along. We haven't got much time."
America looked down at his legs. They looked intact, if a little battered. He stood up carefully, but, despite all his efforts to be careful, he tripped and fell forward, nearly smashing his face against the rubble before someone grabbed his arm, stopping him from falling.
"That would have been a rather nasty accident," England said, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, of course I'm all right," America said, "I'm the hero, after all! Let's go find the others."
England sighed, then pulled America to his feet.
"Indeed," he said, "As I pointed out earlier, Panem will be back to look for survivors, so we had best move quickly."
America nodded, then began scanning the ruins for any signs of life.
"I've checked this end already," England said, "You made it halfway outside before the hallway blew."
"Then we go back to the conference room?" America asked.
England nodded.
The two nations moved fairly quickly through the ruins, looking for signs of life, but not finding any. Finally, they reached all that was left of the conference room. Amazingly, the table in the center of the room was still intact, but everything else was in ruins.
America glanced around the room, surprised at the lack of bodies there.
"Everyone had time to get at least a little ways away before it happened," England said, "If this end of the building had gone up first, then there would be a much larger amount of bodies here."
"Yeah…" America said, "I wonder if anyone else got out."
"I'm sure most of them are fine," England said, "After all, at least four of them were already outside when the explosion started."
"Right," America thought, "So where did Germany, Italy, Spain, and Romano go?"
Suddenly, the blonde American heard a small whimper coming from the direction of the table. He frowned.
"Did I imagine that, or…?"
America stepped cautiously toward the table, ignoring England, who was staring at him in confusion. Bending down to peer under the table, he saw the last thing he had expected, but, also, the thing he had most hoped to find. Canada was curled up under the table, both arms hugging his shoulders in what was probably an attempt to comfort himself. The other nation's eyes were closed, but he had no wounds to speak of, and his steady breathing assured America that he was alive. France sat next to him, leaning against one of the table legs.
"Hey, guys?" America said softly, "You okay?"
Canada squeaked in fright, then sat up quickly, banging his head on the table. France, however, appeared unconcerned.
"Ah… America, is that you?" the blonde man asked.
"Yeah, it's me," America said, "What are you guys doing under there?"
"We hid under here when the building started to collapse," Canada said quietly, "I didn't think we could get out, so we thought maybe the table…"
"Well, that table probably saved you both," England said from behind America, "Ordinarily, I'd be a bit annoyed to find you unscathed, France… But these are far from normal circumstances."
"Why would she do that?" Canada asked, crawling out from under the table.
"Why did she do any of this?" England returned angrily, "I don't bloody well know! Ask America!"
"It's not like I know," America said, "I mean… I can't read her mind or anything."
"We should have seen this coming," England said, "She had no land of her own at all, so of course…"
"We can't do anything about it now," France said. By now, the older blonde was on his feet.
"They might be back to check for survivors," France continued, "So we should probably go."
England looked as if he wanted to protest, but then he nodded.
"There are at least two confirmed deaths," he said quietly, "Do you think the others…?"
"'Do you zink?' is not going to save us from that monster of a girl, l'Angleterre." France said.
"Hey!" America snapped, "Don't call her a monster!"
"You don't believe she really caused this, do you?" England asked, sighing. "You fool."
"Well, duh!" America retorted, "I mean, when is anything ever the personification's fault?"
"When zey try to kill every nation in existence in cold blood," said France, "Zen it is ze personification's fault."
Italien (German)- Italy
l'Angleterre (French)- England
I apologize for the length of these author's notes... I tend to ramble quite a bit, and I feel that I still haven't properly explained this story. However, I can't seem to explain properly, so I'm not going to try any further, for now.
I will say this: Do not expect extremely regular updates on this. I will update when I have inspiration to write, and most likely that will be every couple of weeks. The same goes for the final "Soviet Insanity" fic. They will both be updated in time, when I am in the correct mood to work on them.
However, reviews boost my fragile confidence, and may convince me that this story is worth writing a lot of at a time. :)
Shadow, signing out!
