Something cold and wet dragged across Canada's cheek. He grumbled something incoherent and swiped at the object.
His body was sore and bruised, the occasional shallow cut lazily bled. His eyes fluttered open, quickly adjusting to the dim twilight of the room. Sitting up slowly, a plethora of kitchen utensils fell off of him and clattered to the floor. The back of his head throbbed painfully and Canada winced.
"Okay?" Before he could answer Kumajiro had made his way onto Canada's lap, nuzzling his chest.
"Stupid." the bear continued.
"Glad your okay Kuma." The blonde murmured, rubbing the top of Kuma's head. Thoughts of what had happened slowly started to filter into his head.
"OH!" He shouted, suddenly leaping up from the floor, causing Kumajiro to go flying into the pile of discarded appliances.
"Merde, merde. merde! Aunt Ukraine! Uncle Lithuania!"
Ignoring the protest from his sore body, Canada stumbled through the wrecked house. After circling around several time, he sank down into a previously righted chair. Kumajiro waddled over to him.
"Find?"
"Oh, K-Kuma, where could they be? D-do you think-" Canada gasped, realization lighting his face.
"The barn! Kumajiji, you're a genius!"
Scooping up his friend, Canada rushed to the front door, ripping it open. He stepped out onto what should have been a small step of stairs...
...and fell a good distance, landing heavily on the ground. Kumajiro gave out an indignant yelp at being suddenly squished.
"W-what the-" started the bewildered boy. He dislodged his face from the ground and looked up.
And stared.
And stared some more.
He shook his head, blinking rapidly. That did nothing, however, to change the scene in front of him.
There were plants. EVERYWHERE. And the colors! Bright neon blue and purples and reds and pinks! Trees reached up toward the sky, as did some of the larger species of flower. The grass that he was laying on was more green than any other plant he had ever seen. He felt dizzy looking at it all, as if his eyes didn't exactly now what to take in first.
"Mon dieu." he whispered. "Kumatoto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."
Canada squeaked as her felt hands clamp onto the back of his hoodie, pulling him onto his feet.
"W-w-w-who-" he managed, squirming away from the grasp. There was an exasperated sigh behind him and the Canadian looked up.
Holding him was a tall man, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezed tightly closed. His blonde hair was slicked back with what must have been the best hair gel ever. He was broad and lean, with a square jaw and a strict stature. Opening his eyes, the man revealed a stunning shade of aqua, so bright it seemed to glow.
Quite the opposite of the tall handsome man was his outfit; a tight short-sleeved white shirt, decorated around the hem and collar by light green squiggly designs. On his shoulders were green straps that that lead down to a pair of tight shorts; Canada recognized them as lederhosen His shoes seemed to made of green felt and curled quite ridiculously at the toes.
All in all, the man looked strange and...slightly uncomfortable looking at Canada. Before he could speak, however, a mob of little man, similarly dressed, cheered behind him.
"The Witch is dead!"
"Hooray!"
It's about time!"
"Thank you, oh wonderful savior!"
"SETTLE DOWN YOU PUSSYS!" Screamed the taller man in a thick German accent. "Mein Gott lets at least talk to the kid first." Taking a deep sigh, the man turned toward Canada.
"Vhat is your name?"
Canada briefly considered giving him his real name, but instead decided against it. There's a lot of things you could do with a name. Instead, thinking back to his old family, he gave a nick name his brother had given him when they were little.
"M-M-M-Matthew." he stuttered out.
"Ah, gutt. You may call me Ludwig. I am the leader of the Lollipop Guild."
Matthew paused. Did he just say...
"L-Lollipop Guild?" Ludwig brought a hand up to his forehead only offering a brief "Ja, ve're Munchkins." in response.
"Where?" question Kumajiro from by Canada's feet. Ludwig jumped.
"V-vhat? Is that a bear?"
"Y-yes sir."
"Vhy in Oz do you have a bear vith you?"
"Well, u-um, sir, he's my f-friend."
For a moment the strange man just looked between Canada and Kumajiro. Taking advantage of the silence, Matthew spoke up.
"E-excuse me, where are we? And have you seen my family? Aunt Ukraine and Uncle Lithuania? We got separated during a storm..." He trailed off as Ludwig stared at him even harder.
"Vhere are you? Matthew, you are in Oz. As for your family I am sorry. I have not seen anyone but you step out of that house. Speaking of your house..." The man gestured to the house behind Canada. "It seems as if you should be hailed as a hero, for you have killed the Vicked Vitch of the East."
Canada turned around and almost fainted. From underneath the farm house stuck out two long legs, covered in purple striped stocking and wearing a pair of red sparkly flats. He wobbled and Ludwig reached out to steady him.
"It's not that bad." The Munchkin leader reassured, "You saved us from her tyrannical rule."
"I murdered a w-woman with m-my house Ludwig! How is t-that not b-bad? Oh maple, ooooooooh maple." Matthew forced his breath to come slow and steady.
Okay. He was in a place called Oz with a strange man in lederhosen and he just murdered an evil witch with his house.
He was ready to wake up now.
In the background the little men were starting to sing.
"Ding dong the Witch is dead-"
"SHUT UP YOU PUSSYS! VHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SINGING? MEINE GOTT FOLLOW ORDERS FOR ONCE!"
The music abruptly stopped.
Then, distanced and muffled, they heard a noise.
"Ve~"
The munchkins swarmed back toward the house, stampeding and trampling the colorful foreign foliage, still more spilling forth from small, nearby houses. They all gather onto a beautifully paved street.
To Matthew's amazement, a person was floating down toward them, swaying clumsily in a large bubble. The bubble pop audibly on the pavement, the person stumbling out, but catching themselves."
"Oh fich..." murmured Ludwig.
The person was...the most feminine male Canada had ever seen. It did help that he was dressed in a fluffy pink dress and heels, sporting a sliver crown and a sparkly wand.
"LUDDY!" He shouted in a high- pitched Italian accent. His eyes shot open revealing them to be a magnificent deep gold.
"Hello Feli-ARG!"
"Feli" as he was called, hug tackled Ludwig, nearly toppling the larger man over. He flushed in the smaller man's embrace.
"Feliciano, ve have a guest...hero...person..."
Releasing Ludwig, Feliciano stumbled over to where Canada was.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not used to wearing heels...BUT anyways you must be Mattie!"
As he talked, Feliciano had a single curl in his amber hair that just refused to se still. It seemed to be the only lock out of place in the man's shoulder-length hair and Canada had to resist the urge to pull it. He wondered if that why people were always trying to pull his curl...
The dress hugged the Italian well since he was slim and lean; somewhat like a cat. He couldn't really tell why but he could feel himself getting flustered just by looking at him. He could imagine how awkward Ludwig felt, obviously knowing the man previously.
"U-uh, h-how did you..." attempted Matthew, but his voice died in this throat when Feliciano attempted to fix his dress. Tossing it this way and that, the Italian probably hadn't realized he had shimmied it up pretty far...
"FELICIANO, PUT DOWN YOUR SKIRT!" exclaimed Ludwig and backed you the demand by tugging the skirt down to cover the previously cover backside.
"WHOA Luddy ve~..."
If Ludwig could have gotten anymore red he would have turned into at tomato on the spot.
"Okay, I w-would like to wake up now..." stated Canada, taking a step back from the pair.
"Wake up ve~? Why? You not asleep!" Feliciano cheered happily, completely ignorant to the situation that had just occurred. "Luddy told you, you in Oz! And you killed the Wicked Witch of the East!"
" I-I-I didn't mean to..."
"Let me introduce myself; I am Feliciano, the Good Witch of the North. I have a brother too, named Lovino, but he's the Good Witch of the South..."
"Feli, could you maybe get to the point?" suggested Ludwig politely .
"Oh yeah! You killed the Wicked Witch of the East, who was ruling over the Munchkin kingdom with an iron fist! you freed them!"
Canada could feel his head spinning. If this was real then..then...
"I-I really didn't mean t-to. I came here on a-accident. I just w-want to g-get back home, so if you could p-please help me..."
The Good witch seemed to consider Matthew, his slender fingers tapping against his chin. "Well, you did save the Munchkins...hm.." He suddenly snapped.
"I got it! Just hold still a moment!" The Witch snapped again, this time it was directed at the body crushed under the farmhouse. The Wicked Witch of the East's ruby flats disappeared at the noise, only to reappear on Canada's feet, his old shoes long gone. Canada squealed and, tripping over his own feet, fell backward onto his bum.
"W-W-WHAT did you do?"
"I gave you her shoes! They sure are pretty ve~ and they match you hoodie!"
"W-w-why?"
"Oh, well there supposed to be magical, so I'm sure you'll find a use for them later on?"
"Later on?" Canada had been hoping the shoes could have magically transferred him home. Now that he thought about it, the idea did seem kind of silly. What would he do, click his heels together?
"OF course! To get home you have to see the Wizard!"
"The Wizard?"
"Ja," chimed in Ludwig, " The Vonderbar Vizard of Oz."
The Italian shivered. "Luddy, when you say it like that...ve~.." He winked and Ludwig went back to being red.
"W-well how do I get t-to the Wizard of Oz?"
Feliciano smiled. "Seguire la strada di mattoni gialla!"
"Um..."
"Follow the yellow brick road." translated Ludwig.
"The yellow brick road? Will you come with me?" asked Canada. Both men shook their heads.
"This is something you have to do alone. Besides, we have to start cleaning up the Munchkin kingdom after the Wicked Witches rule."
"You mean I have to clean up." The munchkin leader mumbled.
"Just follow the road and it'll take you to the Emerald City, where the Wizard lives!"
"A-are you sure?"
"Positive!" The Good Witch pointed past the house to a yellow paved road that lead away into a large field of grass. Turning back to the pair, something was shoved in Matthews's arms.
"Here's some food for the road; although if vord travels as fast as it usually does, you'll have no troubles finding a hospitable host."
"Wh-"
"Oh! And don't forget your bear- that is a bear right?" Feliciano deposited the bear on top of the basket. Matthew could feel them pushing his forward.
"Off ya go!"
"But-"
"Go on! it'll be an adventure!"
With that Canada was shoved down the road, protesting as he went. When finally the pushing did stop he turned around to see find that his two companions had disappeared.
"Quoi?" Questioned Kumajiro.
"Um...I don't know. I guess we should keep going."
"Where?"
"To see the Wizard."
"Who?"
Although he didn't know why, the question made him smile.
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."
Reference
French
Merde: Shit
Mon dieu: My God
Quoi: What
German
Mein Gott: My God
Gutt: Good
Italian
Seguire la strada di mattoni gialla: Follow the yellow brick road