Disclaimer: I in no way own Hetalia
America had been watching the news when it happened, without warning. It was a blink and you miss it sort of thing - one minute, the news anchor had been standing there, going over the latest thing the the president had said, and then boom - she was gone. Disintegrated into dust and ash.
He had immediately tried to get into contact with the news company, but to no avail. Then the police, the fire department, the hospitals - nothing. Then America thought to try and call the other nations, but still - nothing. Half the calls didn't even go to voicemail, and America was starting to get frantic.
What had happened?
Russia had been reading when his phone started ringing. The incessant trill of the ringtone he had picked out for America bored into his ears until he could stand it no longer and he moved to pick up the phone.
He had picked out the most annoying ringtone available for America, but now he regretted that decision. This was the only thought on his mind as he numbly watched his hand disintegrate into dust, and then the rest of his body.
The phone continued ringing.
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Germany had been making bread, and Italy was sketching him as he did so. Italy was humming cheerfully and Germany had a soft smile on his face.
All in all it was a peaceful scene, and Italy only looked up when he heard the clatter of a measuring cup against the counter and gasped in fear.
Germany's hand was fading, turning into dust before their very eyes. And then his legs started disintegrating, and Italy rushed to his side but he wasn't fast enough (had never been fast enough never would be fast enough) and by the time he reached him Germany was already gone.
Italy sat there, shocked and silent, not even noticing the tears streaming down his face. What had just happened? Had Germany, the country, been dissolved…? But that didn't make sense, surely he would have known if something like that was going to happen! Then again, that was the only explanation that even remotely made sense, right?
It didn't matter why though - in the end, the result was all the same. Germany was dead.
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England had been napping in his favourite armchair when suddenly, he was gone. He didn't wake up, and it was quiet. Hardly the way any of them had ever thought he would go out, that was for sure. Not even France, in the other room, noticed anything.
Well, France noticed that England was gone when he wandered into the living room to ask him about their lunch plans and saw that he wasn't there. That was hardly any cause for concern though, so France merely assumed that England had gone for a walk and went back to the kitchen to start preparing his lunch.
An hour later when the other man still had not returned, France began to worry. It wasn't unusual for England to take long walks, but it was unusual for him to do so and not tell anyone where he was going, let alone to leave his phone behind.
When France called America to ask if he knew anything about England's current whereabouts, he almost regretted it.
Almost.
France would rather know that England was most likely dead than be left wondering what had happened to him for the rest of his life..
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Romano and Spain had been taking a walk together when tragedy struck. Romano had stopped walking, but Spain continued on until he noticed that he was no longer by his side.
By the time he turned around, it was almost too late and Romano was nearly gone. Spain ran to him, but when he got the spot where he had been standing Romano was gone, leaving his outstretched arms to close around Spain's own body.
At first he was too shocked to cry, but then Spain couldn't stop the sobs from wracking his body.
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Molossia was playing with his dog. She ran towards him in excitement, and then through him when he puffed into ash.
She wandered around, confused, having no idea what had happened to her master and barking in fear.
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Prussia had been working out in the comfort of his own home when it happened. As he was alone, he had no idea that anything had happened until America called him, and even then, all he knew was a place and a time to be there.
He had no idea that his brother was dead. And not just Germany, but so many others as well.
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Hungary had been practicing her boxing when suddenly, her legs quite literally vanished from under her. Next was her face, before the rest of her disappeared as well.
Austria, who had accompanied her both out of boredom and because Hungary had been nagging him about how little exercise he was getting lately, could only watch in wide-eyed horror.
In barely half a second, one of the strongest people he had ever known was just - just gone.
A mere moment later and so was he.
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Sweden and Finland had been asleep. Sweden vanished first, not awakening, and Finland barely had time to register the absence of his lover before he too was gone.
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Sealand didn't know that anything had happened until he woke up. At first, he was confused - usually Sweden and Finland were up before him, already making breakfast.
Not today, though, and when Sealand checked in their bedroom all he saw was rumpled sheets and piles of ash where his parents should have been. There was no note, their phones were on their nightstands - the only thing out of place was the dust and the couple's absence.
Sealand frantically tried to call England, but the call wouldn't go through. Next he tried France, who hurriedly told him not to panic, and a time and place to show up before he hung up.
Sealand was left confused and afraid, not knowing what had happened to his parents.
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Denmark, Norway, and Iceland had been spending family time together and playing Monopoly. Norway had just gotten up to get a glass of water when he heard Denmark yelling.
Now, Denmark yelling was not unusual or a cause for concern on it's own, as Norway was pretty sure that his natural voice was simply very loud, but the fear in his voice? That was.
He turned around to see Iceland staring in his hand in horror. His hand, which was slowly dissolving into ash. His eyes met his brother's and that - the pure fear in his eyes - was what got Norway to react.
He rushed over to his brother's side, and for one crystalline moment both Norway and Denmark were hugging Iceland before he was gone and they collapsed into each other's arms, too shocked to even cry.
Norway's glass of water had shattered and spilled on the tiles of the kitchen floor, broken and ignored.
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Canada was hiking in the woods, and didn't notice when the chirping of the birds got a little quieter, didn't notice when the mountain streams got a little bit ashier
He only started to suspect that something was terribly wrong when he arrived home and found that a car had crashed into it.
Nobody had thought to call him - after all, he was invisible, wasn't he?
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Estonia had been asleep, not waking up for his death. It was a small mercy for him, one supposes, that he did not know what was happening and could not feel any fear or pain concerning it.
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Lithuania was not so lucky, if one could call anything concerning death "lucky," that is. He was in the kitchen making himself a warm drink to help him sleep when suddenly he was just...gone. He had no time to realize what was happening as his body disintegrated into ash.
His mug crashed to the ground, the noise jolting Latvia awake. He looked in the kitchen, where the noise had come from, but all he found was Lithuania's favourite mug shattered on the floor, the man in question nowhere to be found.
Latvia checked Lithuania's, then Estonia's rooms. Both were empty, even though it was much too late for them to have gone anywhere.
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Poland was home alone, and had not a clue what was happening. He had no idea that half the world had been extinguished with a snap. He had no idea that one of his best friends was dead, and he had no idea why Latvia had called him asking about Lithuania's whereabouts.
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When Netherlands noticed his body disintegrating, his only thought was for his siblings. He had lived a good life, but they were still so full of vigor. He couldn't bear the thought of them dying when they had so much left to do.
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Belgium was alive, and that was all she could really say. She, like America, had seen people turn into dust on TV and had tried to contact her brothers.
Luxembourg was fine, for the most part. His dog - not so much, but he said that his big sister was much more important than his dog.
Netherland's phone was dead, her call not even going to voicemail.
Belgium began to worry.
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Japan and Greece had been together at the time, touring his mother's ruins and stopping every so often to play with the cats that naturally flocked to Greece. They had decided to take a break to lay down in a field and relax for a bit.
A beautiful spot to die in, or so Greece thought when he noticed his legs starting to disappear.
He faded slower, slower than most of the others. Slow enough for Japan to notice, and slow enough for him to start panicking.
Slow enough for Japan to see the life fade from his eyes.
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This was the first and only time that Switzerland and Liechtenstein's neutrality could not save them.
They had been having tea and a picnic, and then suddenly they were both just...gone, ashes scattered by the winds.
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Egypt does not know what is going on. Does not know that Greece - who he had practically grown up with - is dead.
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Seborga had been alone, admiring some scenery and such. There had been no one around to hear his panicked shouts of terror, no one to let him know that Seborga would be missed.
An almost fitting end for a micronation, ignored in both life and death.
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China was spared from death, but it was no mercy spare. Or at least, that's what he thought as he held Hong Kong in his final seconds before his arms closed around himself.
Why…? Why had Hong Kong died, and not him? Hong Kong was a mere child, and China had already been alive far too long. How cruel was the world, to kill a child but leave him still there even after five thousand years?
His phone rang five times before China registered that France was calling him, and rang twice more before he forced himself to answer.
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Seychelles was walking along the beach collecting seashells when tourists started disintegrating. She watched with incomprehensible horror as a woman holding the hand of a small child vanished, along with so many others.
Seychelles had dropped to her knees, too shocked to even cry, mechanically answering her phone when France called her, frantic. She mutely nodded along, agreeing with whatever he said.
It wasn't until later that Seychelles found out that the reason that the screeching of the gulls had quieted was because half of them were gone too, and not because of shock. But the ocean had pounded at the shore as loudly as ever, washing away all trace of ash and dust.
After all, the ocean was as relentless as time itself, and cared not for human mortality
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Turkey was fine. Physically, that is. Emotionally? Well. That was quite another story.
Greece was dead. First his mother and now him, who Turkey had known for centuries. He would never admit it but he did care for the boy, and for him to be dead was - it hurt.
It just hurt so much and Turkey rarely felt his age but now he thought he would never feel anything but ancient again.
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Kugelmugel had been painting when he noticed his body dissolving. They accepted it calmly, as death was merely another form of art, and what was a greater aspiration of theirs than to become art?
The ashes from their body stuck into the still-wet paint of the field of daffodils they had been painting. It must have been some sort of cruel irony, to have the ashes of a child forever stuck in the paint of a flower that symbolizes life.
A/N: : /
EDIT: To the guest who has so kindly been leaving reviews detailing what happened to countries that I did not picture: Please stop. There is nothing stopping you from writing your own fanfiction. In fact, I encourage you to! I would be happy, too, to sit down and have a chat with you about the nations I didn't picture here, and what was going on with them, but you're on guest mode. If you don't have an account here, you could DM me on my blog (uncreative-lesbian-fangirl) or drop an ask! Just please, if you're going to leave a review, leave an actual review.