Silver: Hello, World! As you can see, I am not dead and have started to post again, or at least this once. I'm fairly new to the Hetalia fandom so I'm going to assume I won't know anyone should anyone become interested in this story since the entirely of my other stories are all Bleach, and as you can see I'm already getting kind of off topic, and also that I'm long winded and will write run on sentences in my author's notes. I don't think you'll have to worry too much about that in the story itself, but sorry in advance if you find anything hard to understand. If you are a returning fan of my work then the format for this is going to be slightly different than usual (you may not even notice) but hopefully it will make everything a little easier to read. This particular chapter is longer than what you can expect from me for the sole purpose of needing to introduce all my starting characters in the first chapter, so don't expect something so long too often.

I feel like I've already said way to much, so I'll wait to bother you all more at the end.

So far, rated at T, rating may go up in the future

I don't own Hetalia or any of its characters.

The great metropolis known as the Hetalia Complex wasn't so much a city as it was a sprawling mass of steel and concrete. People from all kinds of backgrounds flocked to what seemed the epicenter and embodiment of modern life, and in the turn of the twenty-second century, crime had never been higher.

There were infestations everywhere. In every ally, in every store, in every nook and cranny one cared to check. But by no means was the law slacking off. Thousands of police officers patrolled the streets day and night, bringing in just as many criminals on a regular basis, but the true effort, the best the land had to offer simply had no time for the small time gangs, whose only goal was a few quick bucks.

In the closing years of the twenty-first century, a scientific breakthrough in the field of genetics and human modification came into play, making this level of corruption possible. Some would argue that this is the perfect example of why something should not be pressed just because it can be, but that strays off topic.

This new discovery allowed for a new kind of human, creating longevity, strength, and a resilience that almost resembled invincibility. The few humans compatible for this new genetic quirk quickly flew to the top of the social food chain. These few perfect beings became the beginnings of the three largest and most prominent organized crime families in longer than history cared to remember.

A fairly short man with striking, clear green eyes and chin length blond hair pulled a sleek, black car into the garage of an impressively massive stone house. He swung his legs in an almost unnaturally graceful movement over the side of his seat and touched down on the hard, concrete foundation with a harsh click of dark brown boots. Striding purposefully around the front of the car, he kept an air of seriousness in his expression and gait as he reached one black gloved hand for the door handle on the passenger side of the car.

The door slid open easily, revealing a young girl, whose still childish features denoted her age, the rich blue ribbon in her hair denoting gender. She handed the worn but obviously cared for rifle in her lap to the older boy, taking time to make sure she handled just as he'd instructed not long ago.

Slinging the gun over his shoulder with ease, it thumped lightly, a familiar weight, against his back before he reached out the same hand to help the girl out of her seat. Once the car was properly locked, resting in its spot next to the multitude of others, the boy led his younger copy through the entrance into the main house placing his boots and the girl's slippers on what was obviously the shoe rack on the way in.

Only once the two were well within the mansion did the older boy speak, glancing down at what was easily recognizable as his younger sister in his special way that let her know he was listening and interested, even if he didn't seem like it.

"How was school today, Erika?"

"It was fine, I learned a lot," she answered in her high voice, relaxed and genuinely happy, even more so now that she was spending her time with her older brother. She smiled up at him softly, her short blond hair, cut in the same style as his, trailing behind her briefly.

He spared her another glance, searching her face for any kind of deception when he asked his next question. "No one gave you any trouble? All you have to do it tell me if they did."

"No, Basch, everything was fine. No one was mean to me." Satisfied that she'd told the truth, Basch nodded tersely, more to himself than to Erika, and quickened the pace to their destination.

The halls were long and had many branch off corridors and rooms, easy to get lost in unless one had been navigating them his or her entire life. Despite that, Basch turned down corridors and new halls like he'd built the place himself, always being careful to make sure Erika still had a firm grip on his hand and hadn't gotten left behind.

The last and grandest door at the end of the latest hall was what he'd been aiming for, a large, double-door entrance, arching up in an impressive display of architecture. The door swung open easily under his hand despite its large and heavy appearance.

Erika squeezed his hand tightly for a moment to let Basch know she was still there before rushing into the room, her sock clad feet sliding over the polished marble of the floor. Across the room in what seemed faster than humanly possible, she'd practically leapt into the arms of a young woman, though one that was noticeably older than both her and Basch.

Walking into the room at a slower pace, Basch closed the door behind him before looking around in search of something. When he didn't find it, his eyebrows furrowed in a look of clear frustration as well as a silent question to the numerous others as to where it was.

"Music shop." The answer came from an unusual young man, his stark white hair falling to almost cover and hide his piercing red eyes. His skin was almost as pale as his hair, making obvious the fact he was albino. "Had his heart set on this piano and an ungodly amount of sheet music."

"How long has he been there?" Basch moved to take the seat closest to the one Erika and the older woman were occupying.

The woman spoke this time, absently combing a hand through Erika's hair as she did, "Several hours now, you know just as well as the rest of us music is the only thing Roderich is willing to spend money on." It was spoken in a good natured manner, as if fondly remembering an old friend. Considering how long the lot of them had known each other, she probably was.

Basch fell silent after that, satisfied with the state of things and content to simply watch his sister and the closest thing he'd ever had to a maternal figure interact. He'd had a surprisingly long day, and had almost dosed off when the same doors he'd entered through earlier were thrown open once again. Except, instead of swinging almost all the way open as Basch had let them, an easy hand caught the one door of the set that had opened to keep it from banging loudly against the wall.

The man that walked through had been the topic of conversation what seemed like just moments before and his long strides almost hid the hurried pace he'd set. Roderich, Basch noticed for what seemed the millionth time, had a natural aristocratic air to him, present in the way he held himself, spoke, and even in the measured way he rushed his steps.

The albino snickered lightly from where he sat, the tall blond Basch had only partially acknowledged earlier now watching silently from his corner. He was almost identical to the albino, except that he was not one himself and his short, blond hair was meticulously slicked back, not a strand out of place in contrast to the albino's own messy style. He eyed the albino like he knew exactly what was going to happen but had dealt with the same far too often to get involved anymore.

"Vati's not here yet, you can relax, Archduke."

Roderich shot him a dirty look for the comment, but did indeed slow his gait to a much more relaxed pace, too used to the albino's antagonistic nature to do much more. The woman had always been more motherly though, and perhaps a bit aggressive in her style of doing things to not say anything.

"Gilbert, be nicer to your brother." Her voice was calm and pleasant but stern, like she was chastising an unruly child.

Gilbert looked like he wanted to protest, a snarky comment already on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say a word, just glared at the woman for a moment like he was contemplating it before looking down at his hands. "Yes, Elizabeta." You don't argue with Eliza, he'd learned that one the hard way over the course of several unnecessarily painful childhood years.

Thinking back, it was nothing short of a miracle Gilbert's younger brother, Ludwig, the blond that had thus far remained silently in his corner, had turned out as well as he had. It was likely he had inherited more of their Vati's traits than the older had, and if it wasn't already known, one would be hard pressed to peg the two as related.

For some time after that particular exchange, the six occupied themselves with their own thoughts and distractions, waiting around for the last member of their family, and even Gilbert, who had never been particularly patient, didn't find himself minding he had to wait so long for Vati. Being early was infinitely better than being late.

It was at that point the last and most important member of the group appeared, striding quickly into the room. The other occupants stood immediately, showing more respect for this one man than they ever had for anyone else, each other included.

When the doors shut behind him, he motioned slightly with a flick of the wrist for them to sit, taking his own seat behind a sturdy wooden desk at the end of the room. Even now, his features were set in an expression of ever present seriousness, only a hint of irritation showing through.

"How was work today, Vati?" That was Gilbert speaking. Though he didn't look it, he was the oldest of them, next to Vati of course, and therefore had been with Vati the longest. Although not normally attuned to other people's attitudes, he'd at least picked up when their Vati needed someone to bounce his problems off of, even if it never showed on his face.

After organizing some of the papers he'd dumped on his desk, Vati looked up at Gilbert, and then around the room at the other people he considered his children.

"Work was alright. A few problems though." From there he proceeded to fill the six in on what had transpired that day in a concise, easy to understand way that they had come to except from him.

The source of a particular man's frustration was having a similar convening somewhere in the mass sprawl of concrete and metal. Gathered though they were, there was no distinct leader within this group, none looking as if they would take kindly to being ordered around.

"Lukas, where's Mathias?" The innocent enough question came from a fairly small young man, his pale blond, almost white hair denoting his Northeastern European origins.

From an equally short man, lounging in a comfortable looking sofa, the reply was only a shrug, not that the original speaker had expected much more. The man on the sofa was currently wrapped in another fairy tale he'd acquired from either the library or book store, just the newest in an ever expanding collection he somehow managed to keep within the confines of his room.

Every so often, Lukas would fidget with the cross shaped barrette keeping the majority of his hair pinned back or flip to the next page in his book, but other than that, he was oblivious to the outside world, so it wasn't really surprising that he didn't know where Mathias was, despite spending the majority of his time with the other man.

"He's on the job, Tino," claimed a voice from the other end of the sofa. He looked similar to the other two, the only real differences being the obviously white mess of hair he possessed as opposed to the pale blond of the other two and the obvious age gap. He was younger than the two by several years at least. "He probably won't be here for a while yet, there've been a few skirmishes on the southern border."

Tino frowned, obviously not satisfied with the answer. "And he had to go deal with it himself?"

"No, it wasn't that bad, but…" the white haired man hesitated for a moment, his gaze focusing on somewhere behind Tino on man noticeably taller as well as several years older than all the current occupants of the room hovering closer to Tino than probably was strictly necessary, "he and Berwald got into a pretty nasty fight last night, worse than usual." He didn't explain more than that, knowing the other would understand from there.

"Thanks Emil," Tino replied softly, more as an automatic response than actually meaning it. He was already too far into his thoughts, remembering just how many times this had happened in the past.

Too many to count, he finally decided. Despite whether Mathias had won whatever argument he gotten into with Berwald, he'd still be pissed and upset enough to need a way to vent. Talking about it had never done any real good, even when the man decided to admit he had a problem, and Lukas had done a decent job of hiding the alcohol in a place even Mathias would be hard pressed to check. Considering the man's overly energetic and somewhat violent personality, the only viable option at that point would be a fight.

Normally, he'd spar against Lukas or kill a few practice dummies, but for him to go out of his way for a street fight meant whatever had happened between Berwald and Mathias the night before had to have been, as Emil said, worse than usual. Mathias wouldn't stay mad though, and despite his overly serious and intimidating appearance, neither would Berwald. They were family after all, even if not by blood, and the five of them liked what they had, conflicts and all.

If a man like Mathias had passed you by on the street, he'd be the kind of guy you take one look at, note his wild hairstyle and maybe his long, dark coat depending on the season, and then forget about several moments later. He was handsome enough but of average height, his blond hair and blues eyes not standing out at all in such an ethnically diverse place.

Those were good features for the kind of business he dealt with, drawing too much attention to oneself almost always led to bad things. His personality, however, was not what one would expect from the assumed leader of an already somewhat famous criminal organization, not that many people knew that.

Mathias wasn't brash so much as he was loud and overly energetic, his attention span as short as a child's and his personality in general even more resembling of one. He drank too much, threw fits over the most trivial of things, became obnoxiously stubborn over things he didn't even seem to want, but of course that was all on the surface.

Mathias was a strategist, his mostly childish behavior throwing people off that track before they even began guessing, he was a leader, capable of getting large groups of people, often with conflicting interests, to do as he wanted them to, and he was a spokesperson. None of the other members of his small, make-shift family ever said much, Berwald and Lukas being naturally quiet while Tino and Emil just weren't good with strangers, and so it was left up to him to voice what they wanted, what they were going to do, and how they were going to do it, and so after so much of this, the outside world had begun to view him as the leader of his group.

He was almost certain that last particular bit was what he and Berwald had been fighting about only the night before, but even now he couldn't be sure. He may not get along with Berwald as well as the others, their strong but conflicting personalities clashing easily and frequently, but he still loved his older brother.

He couldn't stand it when they fought (1), and he was sure Berwald couldn't either, but they were both too stubborn for their own good, and even after years hadn't been able to set aside pride in an attempt to reach an understanding. Mathias loved his family more than anything, Berwald included, and knowing for sure they felt the same, he was certain they could discern his decision to join this particular border battle.

That was where he was right then, in the middle of spraying blood and flesh and the cries of fresh human agony. Sick as it may have been for others, Mathias found he enjoyed this kind of thing, the rhythmic swings and consequential resistance of and against his axe a familiar and somewhat soothing exercise.

As far as he could tell, these were Germanic foot soldiers he was facing, not that it really mattered. He knew Germania wasn't looking to expand his territory, these were just common thugs within his lower rankings that thought they might gain a name for themselves through battle glory. The older man might find it frustrating his men were getting cut down, but the leader of the Germanic mafia was a reasonable and intelligent man and would realize Mathias could take no blame for defending his territory from unruly upstarts.

His part of the battle was over soon enough, the last enemy within sight crumpling to the ground from having Mathias's axe slice messily through his neck. The carnage around him didn't bother him as much as he thought it probably should have, but he'd worked off the remnants of whatever frustration he'd been feeling and an inexplicable calm had settled over him. Well, calm for Mathias anyway.

He could feel the eyes of his men watching him with a kind of petrified awe that you might if you suddenly found a deadly predator had saved you, unsure whether it was there purely to help or if you were next on the menu.

The modified human was sure he made an imposing and awe inspiring figure as well, standing straight as he was, almost drenched in blood with a double handed axe almost as tall as himself balanced effortlessly in one hand. He was an absolute mess, he suddenly realized, breaking out of his self-assessment to crunch over fallen bodies in his quest for a Nordic base close by. Lukas was going to kill him if he came home covered in blood again. (2)

The eastern district of the Complex was decidedly more mysterious than the north and southwest. It was still run almost entirely by its own family, but as little as was known about the other two, there was even less information about the Asian mafia.

That being the case, no one paid any mind to the young man and woman that entered a rather nondescript comic shop, despite the young woman wearing an obviously eastern styled top in a generally western styled age, and despite the young man wearing a white military uniform with a katana strapped to his hip.

The streets weren't exactly the safest places to be, and so a weapon of any kind was never too out of place, despite a gun being more common than a sword of any kind. A qipao, while not common in a western styled society, didn't attract too much attention either with such a culturally diverse population.

The young man led the way farther into the small shop, his dark brown eyes flicking around the confined space in search of something particular until he spotted the section where manga lined the shelves. The girl with him turned to a different part of the shop soon after confirming he'd be in one spot for a while and began digging around in the small freezer at the front of the store for the ice cream she knew the other would want to get.

It wasn't long before the two had both made their way to the checkout line, the man holding several volumes of whatever he'd recently become interested in as well as the latest issue of Shonen Jump unsteadily in one arm while he fiddled with his wallet in the other. Along with the ice cream, the girl had also gotten ahold of several small trinkets that had been at the checkout desk.

Overall, the situation wasn't so strange, but the young girl had always been a worrier and as the two left the shop, the girl raised a hand to shield her mouth while asking, "Kiku, do you think anyone recognized us?"

"No, Mei. We've all been careful, no one has any reason to suspect us, much less know our faces."

Mei's eyes still shifted slightly, as if watching for anyone that might have eyes on them. Despite Kiku's reassurances, there was still the possibility with their growing business.

She made sure to voice her concerns, taking the opportunity to get answers from someone she at least somewhat looked up to and respected. "But Yao's been making sure the business is on a steady growth pattern, what if it gets too big?"

Kiku spared her a glance, his short black hair shifting slightly as he picked up his pace. "If anyone does manage to find out who we are, not only will they have to find us, they'll also have to find a way to stop us. As of right now there isn't a single regular human that would even dream of touching us." He said the words quietly, taking caution to not be overheard, but his bold words were mostly to reassure Mei. It was never good to underestimate the enemy, and at the pace they'd been gaining power and growing, especially in the opium business, he was sure someone would uncover them eventually. He was prepared though, Kiku was always prepared.

In a certain place at a certain time, a certain man with his dark brown hair thrown over a shoulder in a loose ponytail was struggling to keep a burgundy duangua clad man out of the fireworks. It didn't help that boy in the navy blue hanbok continued to get in the way.

"Jia Long, I told you it's not good to light fireworks inside." He spared a second to swipe at the boy in blue with his ladle before continuing with him as the new target. "And Yong Soo, don't help him. Why can't you two be more responsible like Quynh?" (3)

Yao finally managed to lock both Jia Long and Yong Soo out of the fireworks room. There shouldn't even have to be a fireworks room, but Jia Long had always held a certain affinity for explosives, and after many, many failed attempts, Yao had finally given up on both trying to get rid of them and talking Jia Long out of acquiring more.

As he turned around to lean against the door, needing to catch his breath from the excessively long and physically involved argument, he noticed something that made the already bad day he'd been having slightly worse. Not in that something bad had happened or he realized something important he'd forgotten, but that Quynh had probably been watching the three proceed from this room for some time now.

The young girl was lounging comfortably on a sealed box of fireworks, looking mildly amused as Yao started whining. "Quynh, why didn't you help me?"

"You need to grow a backbone and solve your problems on your own. If I helped you every time something hard came up you'd never learn." She was dressed in a traditional ao dai, the only thing off setting about it the bright, neon green color of it. Resting against her neck and shoulder was the strap of a non la, the conical bamboo hat kept on her person at all times but only used when the sun became too strong.

Yao sighed deeply, taking his own seat next to Quynh on a different sealed box, having expected an answer similar to that but hoping he'd at least receive some form of help. At least she hadn't added to his problem, it was generally hard enough to deal with Jia Long when he was determined to get something, but it seemed Yong Soo enjoyed the excitement such quarrels brought and sided with which ever person would prolong the conflict longest.

It wasn't long after that Yao found himself fully recovered, so he stood up and readied himself for the inevitable. He was under no illusion that Jia Long wouldn't find a way in, but hopefully he'd use a less destructive method than he usually did.

That dream was shot to hell when a loud and uncomfortably close explosion sounded, soon followed by wood splinters bouncing off of the wok and ladle he'd thrown up to protect his face. Smoke and dust filled the area at the front of the room where Jia Long eventually stepped through. He was emotionless as ever, but even without that, Yao knew he held absolutely no remorse for blowing up a portion of their house.

Yao was ready to start again, this time in an attempt to lock Jia Long and probably Yong Soo as well in a place neither could escape from until he let them out. It would be hard, but it was the only other solution to this he could think of, since he couldn't just let Jia Long set off fireworks in such a densely populated area without the proper space.

Much to his relief, however, no sooner had Jia Long set foot inside the room, Quynh still watching with mild amusement, did a war cry of kinds sound from a distance outside the room.

"Charge!"

The reinforcements weren't exactly what most people would hope for should they need it, but at this point Yao was just grateful to receive any assistance at all. The smallest, most unorthodox elephant ever came running through the dust, followed shortly by a small white dog, a house rabbit, and a guinea pig.

The elephant couldn't manage to do much more than catch Jia Long off guard for just long enough to trip him, but the dog that took its place firmly seated on his face kept him down. Yong Soo was too busy laughing at his predicament to continue with his original goal of acquiring fireworks, and so was left alone.

One dog, especially one as small as the Japanese Spitz (4) normally couldn't keep someone as strong as Jia Long down for very long, but that was what the rabbit and guinea pig were for, settling themselves on his chest while the elephant got his stomach. There was no way he could sit up without hurting at least one of the small animals, and despite his determination, Jia Long knew better than to risk Kiku's wrath should he injure any of the man's pets.

Instead, he gently removed the fluffy white dog from his face and set it on the ground next to him, careful not to cause any damage. The rabbit and guinea pig followed after the dog with a natural swiftness that let one know the dog was recognized as the leader of the pack.

"Here, Toto." By this point the dust and debris had settled and a young man with dark brown hair and glasses could be seen across the door less threshold. The one thing that set him apart from the other several was the style of his hair, spiky and on end, comparable in a way to Mathias's, instead of straight and falling flat.

The elephant climbed off Jia Long's stomach at the call of his name, walking over to his apparent owner in a lazy, round a bout sort of way that suggested a carefree and pampered lifestyle.

"Not that I don't appreciate the help, but where the hell have you been, Kob Sook? (5) This could have been prevented if you'd just helped me when this all started." Yao was back to whining now that he had a moment to breathe, but no one really cared because at least it was better than when he was serious.

Kob Sook had the decency to look mildly sheepish before replying with an answer Yao should have seen coming. "I was going to," he laughed nervously, "but Toto got hungry and I couldn't find Pochi so the rest of it kind of got away from me."

Yao sighed and rubbed his temples in an obvious sign of long standing suffering. A day like this would be fun every once in a while, it just kind of sucked this was what his everyday looked like.

The center of the Complex was always the most ideal area, especially if you needed to be all over all the time, so it only made sense the headquarters for whatever law enforcement patrolled the Complex would be located here. The headquarters was by no means unimpressive, but it was more a small town within the Complex build specifically for law enforcement. The inner workings of such complicated system is by nature hard to grasp and therefore even harder to describe, but a simplistic explanation is possible.

Around the outskirts, as it's more or less circular in shape, there are barracks of kinds as well as several places at regular intervals for the average police officer to reside and work. The different divisions they are split into take turns for their days off, days patrolling the perimeter, and days out in the Complex catching the average crook or small gang.

Within that resides the academy ground, where people of all sorts go for training and education in the ways of law enforcement. For the most part, they don't interact with the world outside their own and are only reintroduced a few months before graduation. This is typically the safest place in the entire Complex, but the training is by no means easy.

The last layer of the city within the Complex doubles as the headquarters of the high ups, as well as the largest and only true jail in the Complex. All prisoners wind up here eventually, no matter what district they're caught in, but are for the most part kept below ground. The above ground portion, the part people can actually see, is a true monstrosity of architecture. It's impressive to all who see it, but the inside is what most only dream of lying eyes on.

It contains almost any profession imaginable, but those mostly relating to various sciences and information. At the very center of everything, most have already guessed, is a conference room, or at least something close. Many men and women who have proven themselves invaluable have risen above the average person to gain a place among the greats, the leaders at the center of everything. These are the men and women who are currently doing everything within their power to cover up a discovery that should never have been touched upon.

A young man stood cowering in the center of the room. He had at first been very excited to have been chosen for what seemed like a very important mission, but what he actually experienced differed greatly from what he had expected.

When he had first received the mission, it had shocked him, how much faith the council was putting in him, and he had resolved not to let them down. That, however, had been much harder to uphold than he thought.

Several weeks went by, and even in that time, all he had learned seemed entirely insignificant. As he stood before the council at the end of his mission, all he had was a list of names, and not even real names at that.

"What have you collected?" one of the imposing shadows asked. (6) The voice was distinctly female, but that was all the giveaway when it came for figuring out this person's identity.

Shaking where he stood, the young man couldn't keep the stutter from his voice as he replied, "I-I have n-n-names, Madame." The next part he added quickly, so that maybe they would not expect so much from him. "N-not real names mind you, but they all guard their real names quite closely. Too closely to determine from speech alone."

The next shadow that spoke was that of a deeply irritated older gentleman, his rough voice biting in tone, "Just spit it out already, Boy, either you have something we can use, or you don't."

"Th-there are only three prominent families, Sir, the rest appear to be loners, but it's the families that are causing all the trouble anyway." He paused for a moment then, looking at his notes just to make sure he had it right. "They go by country names, the names of the countries they're from. The three families are the Nordics, led by Denmark, the Germanics, led by Germania, and the Asians, led by China."

"That's all you managed to acquire?" the voice that spoke this time was soft, much gentler in comparison to the two from before, but still with an air of authority that made the young man want to sink into the earth and hide.

"S-sorry, they're all excellent at covering whatever tracks they leave."

The same voice spoke again, "Thank you for doing this, you may take your leave."

The young boy was gone the moment he was dismissed, not wanting to spend another minute in that room with such thoroughly terrifying people.

There was silence in the room for a moment or two as the various council members thought about the information that was brought to them.

"Well," the kind voice started out, "at least we know the lab fire wasn't an accident."

"It would have been more convenient if it was. It's terrifying isn't it, that this new kind of human we've accidentally created has already become superior to us in almost every way?" The woman was speaking now, musing aloud more than anything, but still bringing up an important point.

The stern man threw in his two cents, "The boy did say there were loners, those that have sided with neither us nor their own kind as of yet. If all else fails, we could recruit several of them to help us."

A new voice spoke up, this one containing an ageless wisdom that marked him as a leader even among leaders. "They would not be easily convinced. They haven't come forward yet for a reason, and it is more likely they would side with their own kind. Especially considering what we did to create them. If we must truly fall to rely on those that are likely to hate us, we must be careful in our thought process. If coerced, will they side with us, or with themselves?"

All notes are done by Silver, always

Notes:

1. Despite how badly Denmark and Sweden get along both in history and in Hetalia, I like to think they still consider themselves family and attempt to get along at least sometimes. If they didn't, one would have ceased to consider themselves a Nordic, right?

2. You all can use your imaginations to figure out where the hell his axe went afterward, or let it remain a mystery and call it magic/science

3. This is the name I'm giving Vietnam, and if anyone says anything about it I will attack with my angry words

4. I wasn't really sure what kind of dog Pochi was, so I just chose the thing he looked most like. If anyone knows what he actually is, please tell me

5. This is the name I've given Thailand for the time being. Apparently it means Full of Happiness, but I am neither Thai nor have I ever had any experience with Thai language and culture before this, so if anyone's got anything better, please tell me.

I clarify that all notes are done by me because I usually have my best friend here doing the author's notes with me, so Pansy may or may not say a word or two in future chapters. Before I disappeared, my multichapter stories were updated regularly on Sundays, but it may take me a while to get back into that routine, so for now they'll come pretty irregularly. Sometimes, I may say stupid things in the author's notes, ignore me then, I do strange things when I am either tired or avoid my medication.

So, that's all I can think of to say, so comment, review, point out inconsistencies, and you'll probably have to wait a while for the next chapter.