Chapter One – Into the Fog
A/N: OH HAI! Another Hetalia fic? From me? Why yes! This one will likely be a 7 or 8 part piece. I think it's the longest one I'll have ever done (so far). Hope you like it! If you did, spare a second or two to write a review please.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia…if I did Canada's character would be different – he'd be a funny hockey player who lives in an igloo. Oh, and he'd wear a toque…cause it's cute. Don't know what that is? Look it up.
NO PAIRINGS!
NOTE: I'm so disappointed. I wanted this story to be the 50,000 Hetalia story up - and I was close too! Last night there were 49,990. I was going to post then but I really wanted to wait.
"Settle down, settle down." Germany grumbled as the collection of nations before him bickered restlessly about world matters.
The countries who made up the world's twenty greatest economies continued on ignoring, or perhaps having not heard the German speak. They were only silenced after Switzerland took out his pistol and shot a lamp insisting the next bullet would go through the head of any nation arrogant enough to speak out of turn.
France raised his hand signalling he had something to say. Germany hated his neighbour's voice but since he was the only one who wanted the floor – America was too busy stuffing his face with hamburgers – he nodded to the Frenchman.
"I think we should take the rest of the day off. Too many things are being shouted out and it's causing us to become even more disorganized." He paused for a moment before combing his fingers through his golden hair, "Besides, it's getting too hot in here with all the people and it's making my hair all frizzy."
Germany rolled his eyes. The comment was typical of the Parisian; caring more about his appearance than global crises. "Well, I'm afraid that's not my decision to make. England is the hosting nation for the G-20 Summit and that makes him the chairman. Only the chairman can open and close the meetings."
Everyone turned their attention to the Englishman with scruffy, blond hair and sharp emerald eyes. "Well," he sighed, "we have been hammering on for nearly six hours now. I suppose a break would do us all some good."
A variety of nations began to cheer as they rose out of their seats and headed for the door. The Brit called out to them that the meeting would commence at 9 am sharp the next morning, "…So have a list of priorities to discuss!"
Swallowing the last of his hamburger America looked to his brother, Canada, who was neatly, but slowly, packing away his things.
"Hey Canada! Wanna go souvenir shopping?"
The North American nation looked up surprised someone had noticed his presence. He game his brother a kind smile, "Sure."
"Well actually," England cut in, having eavesdropped on their conversation, "I was hoping you'd both join me for an exclusive G8 getaway in the countryside."
Canada raised an eyebrow, "G8? You mean France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia will be joining us?"
"That was the idea." England responded.
"As long as we get to go riding!" America grinned. Both he and Canada had inherited a love of horses from England. Of course, the North Americans were wilder in their habits, they both enjoyed cowboys and rodeos as opposed to the English gentry and their equestrian competitions and polo.
"My estate in the country has a stable. You're welcome to go riding if time permits."
America frowned. Knowing England time would not permit.
Before they could leave England gathered the rest of the G8 nations and relay the retreat plans.
"What! Veneziano gets to go to a country retreat and I don't!"
The G8 nations turned to see Romano awestruck and annoyed. Beside him were Spain and China.
"If Feliciano gets to go then I do too!"
"But Romano," Italy pouted, "It's special…for G8 members. But don't worry I'll be back soon, and I'll be with Germany and Japan so you don't have to worry about me!"
"Chigi!" Lovino threw his hands in the air, "I'm Italy too, ya know! Why do you always get to go! Why can't I go for once!"
Italy thought to himself for a second before cheerfully blurting out, "OK! Why don't you come with us!"
England gawked, "Who gave you permission to invite whoever you want to my estate!"
France chuckled at England's irritated look, "Oh Rosbif! It's not a big deal. The more the merrier. Spain should come too."
Spain's face lit up with delight, "Oh really? Thanks man!" The Spaniard had finally received the luxury of being a guest at a G8 meeting over the summer for the first time.
"Aiya! If Spain and Italy's brother get to go then China gets to go too!" the Asian screamed.
America grimaced when he saw the look on England's face. The British nation looked like he was going to pop a vein. The Yankee slung an arm around his old colonial overseer, "No worries, Iggy! It's really not a big deal."
The other nations nodded in agreement when America looked to them for support. The only one other than England who was less than enthusiastic was Germany. He hated the idea of more distractions.
"Well," Japan started in his less-than-perfect English, "I think we should be going now. It would not be good to show up late."
The team of eleven exited the Long Hall room, carried on down the corridor and travelled through the front lobby to the three black Mercedes Benz lined up outside.
After an hour drive the nations finally arrived at England's estate. It was nearly 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
The giant stone house sat neatly on a grassy hill. The cars passed a grand fountain that rested in the centre of the circular asphalt driveway. They stopped in front of a stone tablet staircase leading to two front double doors. Had it not been for a tall farm house and barn in the distance, one would have sworn the manor was in the middle of nowhere. To the right of the house stood a thick forest in close view.
Russia was the first nation out of the middle car. He had ridden up with China, Spain and Romano and had enjoyed watching China wiggle around uncomfortably while Spain and Romano pestered him about communism and his economy. Looking to his left he saw France exiting the first of the three black cars with England yelling at America who was already dragging Canada up the stairs to the house. Looking back to the last car he observed Veneziano grabbing Germany and Japan's arm while laughing cheerfully. The former Soviet nation joyfully drew in a breath of the crisp, fresh air and exhaled smoothly.
Climbing the stairs the majority of the visitors made their way inside the home where they found America admiring the taxidermy on the wall and Canada carrying on in a conversation with the butler.
"Ah Jeeves" England greeted the old man decked out in a posh black suite.
"Welcome back, Mr. Kirkland." The butler who looked to be in his late sixties responded. "Dinner will be ready at 5:30 sir."
America looked away from the stuffed animal corpses on the wall to whine in complaint, "5:30! But that's an hour and a half from now!"
England frowned at his former colony, "Well that's too bad. Besides didn't you eat a dozen hamburgers during the conference?"
"And five shakes!" Spain added laughing, warranting a glare from an un-amused America.
"Well, if you're really, really, really hungry…" Italy spoke up, "I could always make some pasta."
It wasn't necessarily what he wanted but when it came to food America was rather agreeable…As long as it wasn't anything England had cooked.
Italy and America's dreams were dashed however when Jeeves informed them they did not have pasta.
Unfortunately for America, France and China were in no mood to cook, much less was anyone else.
"Isn't there a town nearby where I could buy some?" Italy pleaded, trying not to cry.
England crossed his arms and tightly shut his eyes – a habit he had when trying to recall something. Shooting his eyes open his replied, "Actually yes. It's about a 40 minute walk though so there's really no point in going."
Italy didn't care how long the walk was, he was determined to have his pasta. He looked back to Germany and pointed to his shoe. Germany grunted knowing Italy was clearly asking the stronger nation to tie his laces for him.
Standing up, Italy turned to Japan, "Hey Japan! You'll come with me, right?"
Japan desperately wanted to answer 'we shall see' but realized Italy would not stop until the island nation agreed. "Okay Italy, I will go with you."
Italy looked to his brother, "You have to come with me too Romano! You can help pick out the tomatoes for the sauce!"
Romano let out a heavy sigh. He didn't want to accompany his brother on this journey but couldn't bring himself to resist the temptation of being in a market surrounded by tomatoes. "Fine, but only if the potato bastard isn't coming!"
"Whaaaat! Italy screeched, "That's crazy! Of course Germany's coming! He has to!"
"Well I'd rather not." Germany cut in, looking away from the soft Italian. He knew very well what he'd see if he glanced over. Hearing a few sniffles he caved and sure enough came face to face with that Italian puppy dog look.
Germany couldn't believe he was being suckered into going. "Fine, fine, just don't hug me or hold my hand or anything."
Veneziano raised his right hand to his brow, "Yes sir Captain!"
Germany released a grunting sigh as he felt like an even bigger fool.
"You're coming too, right Spain?" Lovino looked to his former boss.
"Me? No, no, no." Spain sweatdropped, waving his hands in front of him, "I'm gunna catch some Zs. That meeting tired me out."
"SPAAAAAAIIIIIIN!" Romano bellowed out in complaint.
"You don't need me to go with you Romano," Spain continued, pivoting on his heels, "You have a good time with Ita-chan and the others."
Spain waved as he headed down the hallway to his left.
"Well if you guys are headin' out," America butt in, "then I'm headin' out too."
"And where you do plan on going?" Russia asked curiously.
"I dunno," America replied, "I've got an hour and a half with nothing to do. Maybe I'll just run around the forest."
England gasped at America. He was clearly shocked and appalled, "You will most certainly not do that! There's a wonderful pixie community out there and I will not have you scaring them away!"
France rolled his eyes and murmured quietly to Canada, "There he goes again with his fantasy stories."
America seemed quite pleased with England's response as he smirked and loudly publicized that England had now given him a good reason to go messing around in the woods. Before the Brit could protest the North American went flying out the door knowing his European counterpart would chase him.
He was right – England came bursting out behind him cursing the young man and his behaviour.
"Thank goodness those two are gone, aru. It's so much quieter." China said observingly.
"I suppose we should head out as well." Japan nodded to Germany in a suggestion for the town-bound group to leave.
Germany nodded back and the group of four left leaving China, Russia, France and Canada in the foyer.
The French nation stretched before informing the group with a wink that he was going to join Spain for a nap. His comment made China shudder and left Canada with an uneasy smile.
Russia, who was unaffected by France's perverseness said, "It's too bad there's no ice rink around here. Canada and I could have played a game of hockey."
"Oh, but we can!" Canada's face glowed with excitement, "If we can find a couple of nets and some hockey sticks we can play road hockey!"
"Good luck finding those…" China dampened the atmosphere, "You might be able to find soccer nets but I doubt you'll find ice hockey sticks…whatever those look like."
Canada and Russia exchanged looks of horror.
"China does not know what a hockey stick looks like!"
"That's madness!" Canada cried out following Russia's shock and confusion.
Meanwhile, having hit the main road, Germany and group realized they neglected to ask for a map.
"We can just smell our way!" Italy's smiled sparkled as he smelt the air, "Ah! Can't you just smell the pasta!"
'Clearly he's delusional,' Germany thought to himself. His attention was caught by Japan who was fooling around with a little electrical device. Germany glanced at him curiously.
"Oh, it is my GPS." Japan smiled. He showed the German the screen, "See? The red dot indicates where we are. The blue dot shows the town we must go to."
Germany looked to his left, down the direction of the road he GPS indicated to go. "Well at least someone on this team is reliable."
The four started down the road hoping the journey would not take more than the forty-two minutes and twenty-one seconds the GPS stated it would. With Italy and Romano bickering the whole way Germany suspected it would be.
England stopped to catch his breath as he leaned against a tree. "Damn that America! He sure is fast!"
Looking around he couldn't help but smile at the peaceful state of the forest. The light shimmering down through the cracks in the treetops bounced off the deep green leaves. What a beautiful sight.
England had nearly hit a state of bliss when America's loud, irritating voice echoed before him, "Tired already, Iggy?"
The Brit snapped, "You stupid git! I can't believe I bothered to chase after you! You're such a waste of my time!"
England continued to lecture and rant but was cut off as the scenery before him became wrapped in a misty fog.
"Dude!" America brushed his hand through the mist, "It's the London Fog."
England gave an annoyed sigh, "We're not in London anymore."
"So…it's not the London Fog?"
"Well, it is a fog and that's really all that matters. Although," England observed, "this one got very thick, very fast. I don't recall having seen one like this before…"
Canada poked at the uneaten fat from the roast beef on his plate before looking at the clock. It was almost a quarter after six. "America and the others should've been back by now."
"That's true." France added, "The thought of America missing dinner makes me uncomfortable."
Spain put on a brave face, "I'm sure they're just fine guys! They'll be back before you know it!"
"I hope not." China said after finishing his glass of water, "Chines likes the peace and quiet."
"Maybe they're all dead." Russia said abruptly causing everyone, even China, to stare with wide eyes. Sensing the mood Russia restrained himself, "I'm only kidding."
Immediately after a loud boom could be heard and a familiar voice yelled out, "Get outta my way! Spain! Spaaiiin!"
It was Romano!
Dashing out of the dining room, Antonio flagged the Southern Italian down, "What's wrong, Romano?"
"It's Veneziano! Veneziano and the others disappeared!"
Everyone gasped in surprise as Romano recounted how he and the Axis trio had been walking to the town when they were suddenly swallowed in a grey blanket of mist.
The five nations exchanged glances trying to comprehend everything Romano had told them. The group's conclusion seemed like an obvious one.
"Relax Romano," Spain patted his tan, young friend on the shoulder, "I'm sure you all just got separated in the mist. They'll show up soon enough."
France nodded, "Right."
Canada was not as confident. His facial expression showed his concern, "but what about America and England?"
"They probably got lost too…in the fog too…" Russia commented.
"Where is this fog? I don't see a fog!"
Everyone spun around at the sound of China's voice. He was in a fair sized office room with a white wooden desk and a chestnut brown, wall-to-wall library shelf bloating with books. The Asian was staring out of a giant, two piece window. It was getting dark outside, the sky fading from orange to a deep purple, but there was no fog.
France scratched his head, "Well that's odd."
Russia rubbed his chin, "Has anyone tried calling them?"
The other nations had an intellectual revelation. How could they have neglected to do something so simple? They immediately grabbed their cellphones while Russia gave a hufufu for having out-thought the others.
It didn't take long to display the results.
"America's not answering." Canada frowned, looking more worried than before.
"Neither is Japan." China flipped the lid to his little black device.
"Maybe that's because your phones are faux pas." France said with his phone to his ear. China forced out a loud rebuttal but the Frenchman was too occupied with the never ending ring of his phone to pay attention, "England's not answering either."
"Argh!" Romano threw his cellphone to the ground, "Damn you, Veneziano! Why won't you pick up!"
Spain looked at the pieces of plastic and metal that had flung out and away from the cell. "Well, you'll never get a hold of him now. I guess we'll just have to do a good old fashion man hunt."
Yao blinked, "You mean you want to go out in the dark and look for them?"
"Yeah. But," Spain looked over his shoulder to the distressed Italian, "Romano should stay here."
"I can stay with him," Canada offered, "Since his cellphone is broken it'll be good to have someone stay behind who has a working one."
Agreeing to Canada's suggestion the remaining collection of nations headed off to find their missing compatriots.
France swung the flashlight around slowly, lighting the path for himself and his fellow countries. They had decided to take the road Germany, Italy, Japan and Romano had travelled.
China grumbled, "We really should've taken Romano with us. At least we would've known where they disappeared into the fog."
"Perhaps they went wandering into the woods." Russia pointed to the thick forest to the left of the road.
"They might've." Spain said, "The other side is just an open field."
"That's the forest America and England ran into isn't it?" France asked pointing his flashlight towards the bushes and trees.
"Must be…" Spain replied. He and France started walking towards the wooded area to explore.
"Hey wait a minute!" China called out, "You're going in!"
France looked back, "You're not? We might as well. It seems the others went this way."
Turning forward once again the Europeans were off. China and Russia followed in behind them.
After a while Spain began to notice something weird. "Is it just me or does it seem cloudier to anyone?"
France stopped dead in his tracks, "Yeah. I noticed it too."
"It's creepy." China added.
"Hey look," Russia pointed towards a clearing in the near distance, "is that a cabin out there?"
A small wooden cabin could be seen several yards in the distance. It was close enough to see thick grey smoke coming out of it when light pouring from the window.
"Maybe those people know what happened to those guys," France supposed.
"Or maybe our guys are in there right now!" Antonio grinned before racing off towards the cabin.
It did not take long to get there as Spain, the first one to reach their destination, flung open the door. What he saw startled him.
"You guys check it out!" He said, keeping his stare on the people inside, "Everyone is here."
Inside the tiny, one room cabin with a wooden bed in the back right corner laid their missing friends. They all appeared to be sleeping.
France ruffled America who was sitting against the left side near the cabin door. He was unresponsive.
China shook Japan who also didn't wake, "This is getting really creepy now."
Spain brushed against Italy's cheek. The light skinned Italian looked to be in great discomfort. "I think he's having a nightmare."
The Spaniard looked to Germany who was asleep on a wooden chair, leaning over the matching wooden square table in the centre of the room.
Returning his attention he called Italy's name out loud. When the brunette failed to waken Spain looked to the nations who entered the cabin with him. "I can't get him to wake up."
"I know…this is very odd." Said Francis who was now kneeling beside England. The Brit was lying straight on the ground to the right of Italy from the doorway.
"Yeah…strange." Russia cooed with a very scary and hypnotizing look on his face.
Trying to ignore the pale European/Asian, China pulled out his phone. "We should call Canada…wait…what's his number? I deleted it out of my phone after his boss refused to show up to my Olympics."
"Uh…let's see…" France started. He was trying hard to remember his former colony's number but couldn't.
Spain chuckled, "He's really that invisible, huh?"
"Non, non." France rubbed his forehead, "My head is too cloudy and I'm feeling awfully tired."
"Now that you mention it…" China dropped his phone struggling to keep his eyes open.
Russia had already fallen asleep as Spain struggled to keep himself off the floor. "What...is going on?" He muttered to himself before he joined France, China, Russia and all the others in a deep sleep on the floor of the little cabin.
End Notes:
~The G20 was created by former Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin (who would become Prime Minister shortly after) in 1999. Canada was chairman of the council for the first three years (1999-2001) though the first official meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in 1999. The U.K. was chair in 2009… XD So I guess this is set in '09. Spain and Switzerland are not members by themselves, but would be represented through the European Union, which is a member.
~Yes, Canadians have "cowboys and rodeos" too. There's a famous rodeo held in Alberta every year called the "Calgary Stampede".
~Spain was a guest for the first time at a G8 meeting in 2009. China is part of the +5 program the G8 currently has…since France and the UK want to extend the membership numbers.
~Yes, Canada's boss (Stephen Harper) really did refuse to go to China for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He claims he couldn't because of work-related issues but the Chinese, who, at the time, thought rather highly of Canada, were still pretty upset.
~Canada was a colony of France's between the early 16th century to 1763. Sometimes he was called Canada, sometimes Quebec, and sometimes New France…but it's all the same thing. There was also a neighbouring French colony, now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which was known as Acadia.