Story Title: Bent But Not Broken
Summary: (I honestly don't know yet)
Rated: T (may be changed to 'M' in later chapters)
For: blood, violence, possible adult situations, swearing, Romano and 2p! Veneziano's mouths especially.
Chapter Word Count: 2,393
Pairings in Story: 1p!s: Gerita, Fruk, Prucan, Rochu, Spamano, Mentioned Giripan. 2p!s: Gerita, Fruk, Rusame, Prupan, Unrequited Spamano, Unrequited Red Velvet Pancakes, China/Everyone because why the hell not XD (JK)
General Disclaimer!: I do not own Hetalia, the characters, NYC, or ANYTHING else in this story besides the plot. Only the plot is mine.
New York City, UN Building
December 17th, 20XX
12:43 p.m.
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"Alright England, I believe you said that you had something urgent to discuss?"
'Ludwig sounds tired, did he work all night?' Feliciano wondered, putting down his pen to pay more attention to the meeting. Drawing while everyone else argued was fun, but if this was urgent...
England stood, nodding. "In fact, I did. And before you all scoff at me, at least listen to what I'm about to say." Oh... Was he going to say something about magic again? England had been doing that a lot during G-8 meetings lately. Feliciano tried to pay attention to it, he honestly did, but after a while it just got repetitive and he zoned out.
"Oh Mon dieu, not this again." Apparently France was getting a little tired of it as well. "Angleterre, I normally care about what you say very much, but this is getting old."
"But I've finally figured it all out! It's taken me a few centuries to do so, but-"
"England-san, you have been acting a little strange lately... Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"I'm not crazy! Just hear me out!"
"I didn't mean anything like that, however-"
"That's enough!" Germany interjected loudly, startling Feliciano. He looked as exhausted as he sounded.
Germany sighed. "Japan, France, let him talk." This statement shocked just about everyone, causing those who weren't before to look at Germany. "If this is as important as he says, I believe it would be best to listen."
England breathed out in relief. "Thank you Germany. Now, as I was about to ask... Have any of you noticed anything... strange... about your reflections lately?"
Silence. Something strange about their reflections? No one spoke for a few stiffled moments, until a blond man to France's right spoke up.
"Erm... I have, since I was little..." His voice was barely above a whisper. Feliciano knew that he recognized him, but he couldn't quite put a name to his face.
"Yes, I know you have Canada." Oh, right! Canada. Matthew. Francis's son. Alfred's brother. Gilbert's boyfriend. He knew Matthew. So how did he forget? "That's actually how I came to know of this possibility." Oh, England was talking again. "Could you please tell us what you see in the mirror? Just so that everyone knows."
Canada paused, looking around nervously. He clearly wasn't used to all of this attention. "Um... Well, he looks a lot like me, except... I don't know, a bit scruffier? His hair's a bit more brown, and it's longer, in a ponytail. His eyes are more of a purplish-red too."
England nodded in acknowledgement. "I thought so. Now, I wasn't sure of what was going on for many years. But just recently I found something in one of my books that cleared many things up."
England reached down and pulled an old, weather-beaten book out of his bag. The black writing on the front was in Latin, which thankfully was a language Feliciano understood.
"Mysteries of Other Worlds?" He read aloud, tilting his head in confusion. "Does that mean aliens? Because the Pictonians were more than enough for me!" Everyone glanced at him, and then England spoke up.
"Not exactly. Rather, it means alternative worlds, which means that we're dealing with another reality." Wait, what?
"So, wait... You mean the guy Mattie's been seeing is from an alternate universe?" America asked, perking up considerably. "Cool!"
England frowned in concern. "No, it is not "cool". This is dangerous, very dangerous." He opened the book, flipping to a page with a green sticky-note stuck on it, and placed it on the table so they could all read the paragraph.
"The theory of alternate realities has been around for quite a while, but I never looked into it much because it sounded silly at the time." England sounded a bit embarrassed at that. "Basically, the theory says that every time we have a choice between something, there's a world where we make that other decision, and that version of reality went another way."
"Sooo..." America spoke up again. "What you're saying is there could be a world where Mattie's noticed and I'm the invisible one?"
"Thanks, Al."
"Well, theoretically yes. I can't imagine you being invisible, but yes. However, I don't think this is quite what we're dealing with." England turned to the page with an orange sticky-note, this page had a picture on it. "I believe this, is most likely what we have on our hands."
The ink drawing was of a man standing in front of a mirror, with a sinister black figure where his reflection would be. Feliciano thought it was kind of scary.
"A Mirror World, or an opposite reality. Quite often a darker, colder, or more violent version of our own. That would mean that the Nations that live there are the opposite of us."
"Well then, how can Canada see this other version of himself if we can't?" France asked, giving the Nation in question a concerned look. England looked concerned as well.
"I'm... not quite sure..." He admitted, closing the book and stowing it in his bag. "I still need to do quite a lot of research, but until I know exactly what we're dealing with, I'd advise caution for all of you, and your families." And with that, England sat down.
A few moments of silence followed, until Germany broke it by clearing his throat awkwardly. "Well, I think we should... take a break to consider this... Meet back here in an hour." And with that, everyone got up and left the room.
"So, what you're saying is... A different version of me lives in the mirror, and could be watching me at any given moment?"
"Umm... Not exactly. Just be careful fratellone. Arthur says they could be dangerous, and I don't want you to be hurt."
"Tch, alright... You be careful too, Feli. Don't let anyone drag you into some kind of crazy plan."
"I won't! I'll see you at the end of the week 'Vino, ciao!"
"Mm-hmm. Ciao."
Feliciano sighed after he hung up, turning his head to gaze out of the window. Smiling widely, he walked over to it and watched the city outside. Pausing, he noticed his reflection for the first time in a while. Feliciano narrowed his eyes the tiniest bit, trying to find any differences in this reflection and the one that he knew well.
Satisfied that he didn't find any, Feliciano started to walk back towards the meeting room, feeling that the hour break was almost up. What stopped him was a small noise behind him, like a cough. Turning around, he saw no one.
"Hello? Is anyone over here?" He called out, walking back down the hall. Not getting an answer, he frowned slightly, confused. Turning around again, he did a double take when he saw his reflection, eyes widening in alarm.
Instead of himself, Feliciano saw someone who was remarkably similar, but not him.
While his reflection's hair was still a brownish-red, it was several shades darker. And Feliciano's eyes were amber, not the almost purple-red the reflection's were. No... This was a completely different person... Who just so happened to look a lot like him.
Backing away slowly, Feliciano felt his back hit the opposite wall and closed his eyes. 'Okay... Okay... What do I do? He's not looking at me for some reason but that doesn't matter right now... Should I run? No, that wouldn't work since it's technically my reflection. Ludwig can't make it go away. Again, since it's my reflection... Ugh, think!'
'Maybe... Maybe I could just walk away and hope he doesn't notice me? That could work! Then I could find Arthur or big brother Francis or Ludwig... They'll know what to do!'
Opening his eyes and determinedly moving away from the wall, Feliciano took a few cautious side-steps before breaking into a run down the hallway.
And right into another window.
Suddenly Feliciano's vision went black. He felt a rushing sensation, like he was falling, and then nothingness...
Elsewhere...
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"Here Gil, you look tired."
Gilen looked up from the book he was skimming through, his gaze going from Kuro's face to the dark blue coffee mug he'd just placed on the desk.
"What's this?" He inquired, looking at the contents of the mug.
"It's tea. I found some a few days ago and managed to sneak it here, since I know how much you've missed the nice stuff." Kuro sat down in the empty chair next to Gilen, crossing his left leg over his right, and nursing his own mug of what was apparently tea.
Gilen looked back up at the man next to him, cracking a rare smile. "Thanks, schatz. Taking a tentative sip in case it was hot, Gilen turned back to his book.
"So what're you reading? More research on those... What'd Oliver call them..." Kuro trailed off, though he remembered after a minute and grinned. "Mirror Worlds! That's what they're called, Mirror Worlds!" Gilen looked up again slowly, blinked, and then nodded slowly.
"We don't have very much information about them right now," Gilen started, turning another page. "But I did find some of Roland's old spell books, and I think they might have what we need."
Kuro's grin fell, replaced by a deep frown, his hands curling up into fists. "Are you sure those books are safe for us to have? I still don't trust this "magic" business y'know."
"I made sure Oliver checked them out personally before I even got near them, so they should be fine."
"What do you mean by should?" Kuro's voice was full of suspicion, and almost aggressive.
Heaving a quiet sigh, Gilen looked over at Kuro again. Noticing how tense his hands were, Gilen reached out and covered them with one of his own. "Kuro, leibeling... You need to relax. I know what I'm doing with this, okay?" He muttered softly. Brushing his thumb against Kuro's, Gilen looked him in the eye. "I understand that you worry about me, but this is my job."
Kuro tightened his grip on Gilen's hand, trying not to look away from those blue eyes that seemed to know everything. "I know it's your job, but I don't want you to get hurt. Especially when I'm not here. Roland's a nasty guy, he could have put some creepy ass spell on those books."
"I try not to. And believe it or not, Roland actually wasn't all that bad when we were kids, which is when he might have had these books." Gilen let go of his hands, taking another sip of tea. It was true. Roland had been... Well, he wasn't exactly "nice", but he wasn't horrible when Gilen had first met him.
Kuro crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, he's certainly not "not all that bad" now. Take it from someone who has to deal with his creepy... Well, everything..." Kuro shuddered, remembering a particularly nasty occurrence. "Including those snakes! And the raven, and the," another shudder, "and the spider. Especially the fucking spider. I swear that it knows things..."
That pulled a light chuckle from Gilen, who shook his head slightly and glanced back at Kuro.
Kuro narrowed his eyes when he heard the laugh. "I'm not joking! It looks at me funny!"
"I know, I never liked his pets much either." Gilen said jokingly, standing up, marking his page, and closing the book that rested on the desk. Kuro stood as well, wrapping his arms around Gilen's waist and pulling him close, causing him to smile. "I'm glad you're back," Gilen murmured, pressing a soft kiss to Kuro's forehead.
"Me too. I've really missed you." Reaching one hand up and around to his chest, Kuro toyed with Gilen's shirt collar for a minute, both in a comfortable silence. Then, both were startled by a rapid knocking on the front door.
"Oh come on!" Kuro fumed, once he'd regained his composure, that is. "The first chance I get to talk to you in three weeks and someone just has to knock on the door now?"
"Kuro, i-it's fine. We can talk more later. Whoever's at the door probably has something that's really important for us to know." Gilen's voice was quieter than normal. Moving his arms from where they had rested on Kuro's shoulders, he walked out into the hallway. Kuro followed after casting a concerned glance at Gilen and grumbling to himself some more.
The person outside was still knocking when Gilen reached the door, but stopped when he opened it. Standing outside was a very short, very nervous-looking young man with strawberry blond hair and very large eyebrows.
"Oliver? Has something happened?" Gilen asked, eyebrows furrowed and looking nearly as nervous as Oliver, who had come in once the door was fully open.
"Yes, actually... Something very, very bad happened, and I don't understand how it happened but it's suspicious and just awful!" Oliver was now in the living room, pacing and wringing his hands. "I mean, what are we going to do now that he's gone? I have an idea on what happened exactly, but I don't know how it happened and-" He was cut off by Kuro, who guided him to the couch and made him sit down.
"Slow down, Oliver." Kuro started speaking before Oliver could continue, effectively gaining his attention. "What happened in the first place? You didn't say." Oliver gulped, eyes flickering between the two of them. He took a deep breath, and then he spoke.
"Luciano's vanished. And I don't mean that he's gone to one of his hiding places for a while... He disappeared, right in front of me."
Alrightie guys! What do you think so far? This is just a tester chapter to see if y'all like this idea. I think I might delete Behind The Knife and just do Lucio's backstory in here instead. That way I'm not worried about constantly writing and editing two separate stories at the same time.
This is so clichéd, I know. But trust me, this story is going to blow your minds. And also, 2p! Prupan because those two are my guilty pleasure and need more love.
The next chapter is in the works as you're reading this, but don't expect an update right away. I might get it done quickly, but don't hold me to it.
Ciao for now!