Summary: Feliciano Vargas, a new student at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts, aquires a brand new wand for his classes. Lovino Vargas, his jealous older brother, decides to tell Feliciano stories about the "scary" students and monsters at the school in order to make his brother's time miserable and terrifying. But nobody was told about how "wild" Feliciano's magical powers could get when he's stressed. Nor did anyone know that his new wand seems to have a mind of its own...

Possible pairings: Implied Antonio/Lovino (especially in this chapter), Gilbert/Roderich, and implied/pre Ludwig/Feliciano.

Author's Notes (NH): This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but then it just kinda grew once I began actually writing this. And to top that off, we (meaning Senaki Mira and I) ended up adding this prologue JUST to we could paint a pretty little picture of the setting for all of those APH fans that stumble across this fic.

SM: (I'm the one that had to remind her to do that, since we want both Hetalia and Wizard101 fans to appreciate this, and the APH guys would probably be confused as hell about where the characters are at.)

NH: So now because of an added prologue (and because of the fact that Senaki here is co-author to this), these little chapter will be, well, smaller than what I'm usually comfortable with, but whatever. As long as it works out.

And again to both APH and Wizard101 fans: We really don't think that you need to know about the other fandom in order to get what's going on. We're pretty sure that we will be descriptive enough (after the prologue) in order for everyone to use their imagination.

(We apologize that this seems more Lovino-centric at first, but again, whatever. As long as it helps us.)

Anyway, on with the show.

Word Count: 2768

Warning: VERY mild language. And human names used?

The Italian and the Storm Wand

Prologue

Being a wizard was, in itself, pretty cool. At least, in Lovino Vargas' point of view.

In the beginning, though, this was not exactly the case. The mere discovery of what he really was when he was younger was shocking enough for him at first. True, for most "normal" people who were born and raised on Earth, it was not exactly every day that their Papà and Grandpa Roma explained to a seven-year-old boy that they had special powers; that when they grew older, they would learn to become a wizard, just like their ancestors. Then again, most would probably be thrilled by new like this, to learn that they are truly special compared to everyone else around them. Lovino, nonetheless, was apprehensive about it (though he refused to admit it, even to himself at times). Sure, before being told of this family secret, he occasionally dreamed of having a life more interesting and fantastical compared to the one he lived. The idea of him having powers that could possibly harm himself or others if he was not careful, though, was not what he really had in mind. The fact that, over the years, his apparent "powers" began to manifest themselves as flames burning objects nearby was no help to him; If he was honest with himself, he would say that it unnerved him to no end.

To say that he was both upset and scared (while denying the latter) when he was eventually whisked away to Wizard City in order to attend its Ravenwood School of Magical Arts would also be a slight understatement. Some of the staff had to continually Stun Lovino upon his appearance until he calmed down enough to be able to take the entrance test provided by The Book of Secrets. After his outbursts and resistance during his arrival to the new world, no one was really surprised when the results came back, saying that Mr. Vargas was to be accepted to the college as a Fire wizard. (Despite not remembering what Papà and Grandpa Roma told him about the history or common traits of Pyromancers, he was seen scoffing as he muttered in Italian, "Of course I'm a perfect match for Fire, stupid book.")

After his hectic admittance to the school, the worst that Lovino had to deal with in his new "home" were the bouts of culture shock: English was apparently the official language of the city, so he found himself having to practice what he knew in private; it took him the first five days to get used to the fact that people could teleport out of nowhere and send telepathic-like messages into the minds of others; and, in general, the regular citizens of Wizard City, or at least the ones he saw from time to time, were, to put it simply, nothing like the people back on Earth—absolutely nothing like the ones in good old Italy. The clothes they wore looked more like fancy costumes, if not anything else. The people in Rome were not exactly brutes, but compared to them, the Wizard City residents seemed polite to the point where it began to make Lovino nervous again. What truly horrified him, though, was the sole fact that almost no one there knew what spaghetti or pasta was! Most of them never even heard of a tomato before he asked them about it.

Unfortunately for Lovino, what was actually the worst adjustment that he had to go through was being able to deal (or not deal) with the majority of the fellow wizard students he met, who could be categorized as either being really boring or infuriating to him. The boring ones mainly consisted of Heracles—his long-haired brunette roommate—who did almost nothing but sleep and somehow attract stray cats, and Lukas, a blonde Norwegian kid who lived across the hall from his dorm, but who never seemed to speak to almost anyone. Lovino's list of infuriating people, however, might as well have included everyone else in the school; this long catalog went from the obnoxious Fire upperclassman from America, to the bushy-eyebrowed Life guy from a world called Marleybone, and even to the egotistical Death albino, Gilbert, and his perverted friend, Francis.

But it was Gilbert and Francis' other friend, Antonio Hernández Carriedo, that irked Lovino most of all. A local who had parents from Spain, Antonio, for reasons unfathomable to Lovino, acquired a sudden interest in him since the first official day in school, when they accidentally bumped in to one another while getting to their different classes. Since then, the Spaniard would try to start conversations with him whenever they ran in to each other, which, to what he claimed was horrible luck, seemed to happen far too often for his liking. The constant basket of tomatoes and attempts to hug him only served to fuel the fire. (But Lovino was able to admit that at least the tomatoes were delicious, especially since he had not seen any after being dragged to the college.) What Lovino thought made his blood boil, though, was that no matter how bitter or cruel he acted to him or how many times he tried to burn his face, Antonio would always give him that bright smile that would make Lovino's face flush with what he believed was embarrassment. The other annoyances usually made him blush also—just not as much as that smile and the overwhelmingly cheerful personality that came with it. And the apparent "nightmares" that soon came with this only appeared to cement that so-called dislike into his mind.

Being a wizard, though? That alone frequently made up for Lovino's frustrations. At first adamant about not even picking up the ruby-tipped wand he was given by the school, he quickly learned that in truth, it was very fun to use his now-controllable abilities to shoot flames and summon fantastic creatures that could attack enemies, from Fire Cats, Thunder Snakes, Blood Bats, and even Imps. The thought of using cell phones and cars swiftly became laughable to Lovino as he began to get used to Teleportation and Whispers, the telepathic way of communicating with other wizards, usually reserved for friends and allies—it was just more convenient and interesting.

Wizard City itself eventually grew on him also, although the reality that the city was basically a floating island in space made him a bit nervous at first, especially when he looked down in some areas and could only see an endless abyss below. (He was not exactly afraid of heights—he merely disliked the idea of falling into the unknown.) But like everything else in his new world, he grew accustomed to this piece of information, to the point that he was able to ignore it like everyone else there. He became determined enough to start believing that he would not let this small blip ruin his time in Wizard City, surprisingly—to him, Wizard City was admittedly a far too intriguing place to let anything like that happen, anyway.

In truth, next to the magic itself, it was the many places and neighborhoods within the city's piece of land that were the most magnificent parts in this new life. Walks to and from different destinations alone were pretty neat—the school, stores, and numerous residential areas were all separated on different "levels" in the city, so the only way for regular citizens and wizards—or at least the ones who knew too little about the layout of the city—to travel effectively was through the tunnel systems. To newcomers, traveling up and down the winding, torch-lit corridors also added an air of mystery that seemed to intensify their curiosity and made them excited to see what was at the other end of the underground paths. When exiting, said newcomers would most likely be awed by whatever laid before them: The Commons, situated on the second highest level behind the actual Ravenwood campus and one of the sunniest places in Wizard City, included the grand Ravenwood Library, the Headmaster's offices and living quarters (the building, more or less, was like a small castle), and a few private student dorms, all of which surrounded the glistening pond in the center of the area; the Shopping District, which was located on the level below the Commons, was usually bustling with activity within the area, whether patrons were going to the housing store to buy furniture for their dorm or private house, or new students were exploring in order to find a shop that could give them new equipment; or even Olde Town—considered by the locals to be the mezzanine level that connected the lower levels to the Shopping District—which mainly consisted of hilly terrain, beautiful towers, and more recently, the Bazaar, a place for people to sell their unneeded possessions and where others could buy said secondhand items for their own personal use.

(And that was only the districts Lovino was actually allowed in. Due to the fact that he was a Novice-leveled wizard, he was always blocked from going to most of the neighborhood districts due to the occasional monster infestations, which were occurring at a more chaotic rate on that year. But after making a deal with Antonio—which mainly meant allowing them both to use Whispers with each other—Lovino was able to sneak in to those neighborhoods by Porting to Antonio, who had access to those area. Afterwards, Lovino would question if the agreement was worth it, since other than stark difference in climate and designs, the only neighborhood that was close to compelling was Firecat Alley.)

If asked about how he was fairing, though, Lovino would make a point to act as though living in Wizard City as a student wizard was a boring, tedious, and flat-out crazy existence. He would make sure to only mention the negatives, whether that meant talking about how the "stupid" spells could backfire and leave his hair singed (especially when having his one protruding curl burned would, for reasons unexplained, leave him unresponsive for a while), how some of the teachers were "morons" (which was mostly false—Lovino actually liked all of his teachers except for Professor Cyrus Drake, the Myth teacher, who Lovino was secretly afraid of), or how unlike back on Earth, he had "bullies" and "stalkers" to be concerned about. (The "bullies" being Gilbert and Francis, and the "stalker" Antonio.) Because of the, albeit false, temper that he would give to almost everyone in the city, it was easy for most people to believe his claims.

But if one were to be at the Commons at dusk, when most would be back in their living quarters or in the Library, they would find Lovino. This would not be the constantly hot-headed and negative Lovino Vargas, though: this Lovino would most likely look content, laying against a tree trunk near the pond, watching the sunset. Sometimes, he could also be seen eating a tomato given to him by Antonio or shooting bursts of flames into the air with his wand. Moments like this would assumably be one of the only times that he would allow himself to have a gentle smile grace his face.

(Although if anyone said that they saw Lovino this way, he would promptly try to burn their clothes or hair. Whichever was not exactly an issue he delved upon.)

-000-

Despite how much he "secretly" liked his time at Ravenwood and Wizard City, Lovino was glad to be able to go back home to Rome when the school year ended. (He was distinctly heard shouting "Ciao, you bastards" before being lead away by Grandpa Roma.) Lovino, after arriving near his family's villa outside of the Italian capital, did not bother to hide his joy as he to smelled the flowers in their front garden and took a bite out of one of the tomatoes that grew in it. ("Yep, tastes much better than that bastard Antonio's," he tried telling himself.)

After Lovino has his fill of the garden, he proceeded to walk into the house itself—

"Lovino, you're home!"

What Lovino noticed next was his back slamming into the hardwood floor and a throbbing pain forming behind his head when something heavy attached itself to his waist and pushed him down with extremely unnecessary force.

"Ve, you're home, you're home! Lovino, I missed you so much! Why didn't you write to me? I was starting to wonder if you were just going to stay at... Ve, where'd you go again? But still, I was worried that you'd stay at that place and forget about your brother and Papà and Grandpa Roma—"

Before Lovino was allowed to become mad enough to try punching the kid on top of him, they looked up at the sound of someone chuckling.

"Ah, Feli, I doubt that Lovi would forget a brother like you that easily," Grandpa Roma said with a twinkle in his brown eyes. "By the way, Feli—why don't you go and grab one of the pots with the plants in them. Let's show Lovi your new trick, okay?"

At this, Grandpa Roma winked at Feliciano. Lovino was confused, but his brother's face immediately lit up.

"Ve, okay, Grandpa Roma!"

With that, he climbed off of Lovino and ran towards the hallways with a speed and vigor Lovino only saw when the other was excited or scared. As Lovino used this time to slowly stand back up, he continued to stare quizzically at his grandfather, who simply continued to smile at him.

"Something exciting happened to Feliciano while you were gone, Lovino—something wonderful," Grandpa Roma told him, amazement seeping into his tone.

Before Lovino even thought about asking him what he meant by that, Feliciano came running back in, holding a pot that was carrying a wilting plant.

"Look Lovino! Look at what I can do," he said, almost bouncing on his feet.

Without waiting for his brother's retort, Feliciano started waving his fingers at the brown plant. Lovino was tempted to roll his eyes at the ridiculous display.

But Lovino paused—Feliciano's fingers began sparkling green as they continued their wiggling motions. The brown plant in front of them soon glittered in the same way—except now it was no longer brown. Slowly but surely, the plant's stem and leaves started turning the same color as the sparkles as it also began to stand upright. A bud formed on top of the plant, and as Feliciano's fingers started to lose speed, the bud bloomed into a purple tulip.

"See? Did you see that, Lovino?" asked Feliciano, displaying the tulip practically in his face. It now appeared that it had grown too big for its small pot.

Lovino, meanwhile, was, for once (at least when it came to his brother), too flabbergasted to respond to his little brother's prodding. His mouth hung open slightly as Grandpa Roma answered for him.

"Yes, Feli, he saw. Now, maybe you should plant that in our garden—the tulip will need more room for its roots," he suggested. Lovino was practically able to hear the smile in his voice.

"Ve, yes Grandpa Roma. I'll go now," he said to him, nearly tripping at the doorway while sprinted to the front garden.

As the door closed, Lovino could hear his grandfather chuckle again. He then felt a pat on his shoulder and turned his head to see the delighted expression on the aging man's face.

"Aren't you proud of your brother? Ah, he's destined for good things—I'm sure of it," he said in wonderment, although it seemed more like to himself than anyone else as he slowly walked away from his oldest grandson.

Proud, though, was definitely not the word that Lovino had in mind.

Dammit.

AN (NH): Currently, I have chapter 1 in the works, so it'll hopefully be out sometime before New Year's. I think my Wizard101 watchers can attest to the fact that I can be very slow with updates. But hopefully, since I have a co-author for help, things will get done faster. (Although I am attempting to enroll in an OCT on DeviantArt, so I'm not making any promises.

SM: Since this is the first time I've actually helped post something on FFN, reviews and such would really be appreciated! It'll warm my heart and I'll give little internet cookies to anyone that does so. :D