¡Hola! You don't know how happy I am when people read my stories, so I thank you if you still find this worthy. ;u; And you might have noticed I changed my penname… Nothing big. I just… kind of have a stalker I don't want finding me if they search my old penname ^^; I'd like to thank TheEvilMuffinToaster for thinking of this new name. :D
I own nothing except for this potted plant that is currently watching me write. *stares at the plant suspiciously*
P.S. In the British dialect, "All right?" basically means "Hello, how are you?"
Stargazing
Chapter 2: Tears
Arthur woke up the next morning, feeling as if something was amiss. He patted his bed. Yes, still the same sheets, same mattress, same bed in general. He stared at the ceiling. Same ceiling. He scanned the room. Everything was the same and in the same place it had always been. But something, something, bothered him. Something was missing. Something wasn't the same. Cautiously, he lifted the covers and put his feet on the floor. He had to find out what the problem was before the meeting, before his chance faded. The second his feet landed, though, he realised what was wrong. It was as if some cosmic force was able to inform him of the situation.
He had forgotten to put on socks last night.
Quickly fetching a pair from the drawer next to him, he slipped them on and started towards the kitchen. Lazily, he began boiling some water for tea. He would need it for the long day ahead. And a somewhat large breakfast as well. He most likely would not have time to eat later.
As the water boiled, he decided to procure the newspaper from his front stoop. After acquiring the paper and his tea, Arthur sat down at the small round table.
A shrill ringing sounded throughout the house. Arthur sighed and set down his teacup. Who would possibly interrupt him at this hour? With a brisk pace, he made his way over to the phone.
"Hello, this is the Kirkland residence. To whom am I speaking?"
"H-Hello, Arthur. Um, it's me, Matthew. I was just wondering…," a quiet voice said.
Arthur paused. Matthew… Matthew… Matthew… He didn't know any 'Matthews.'
"…the meeting tomorrow and…," the voice continued.
Searching mental data bank… Searching mental data bank…
"…have information on some important documents…"
Your search – Matthew – did not match any documents.
Suggestions:
Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords.
Try more general keywords.
"…And I was hoping that you possibly-"
"Excuse me for interrupting, lad, but could you possibly tell me who you are?"
There was a pause on the other side of the phone, and for a moment, Arthur believed the boy had hung up.
"I'm Canada."
"…"
"CA-NA-DA. I'M AMERICA'S BROTHER."
Arthur blinked. "Ah, yes, quite right. Now, what is it you need, er, Ca-na-da?" He could hear an exasperated sigh, yet he couldn't place what it was for.
"I suppose you weren't listening… In short, has Alfred called you at all recently?"
Arthur thought for a bit, trying to recall anything.
"No, not that I know of."
"This is bad, this is very bad. He hasn't been seen for the past week," he heard the Canadian say with a frightened tone.
Now that he mentioned it, Arthur realised that Alfred had not been at any of the preliminary meetings that had started a few days ago. Wait, they started exactly a week ago. Could Alfred be avoiding work?
Well, honestly speaking, most countries didn't attend the introductory meetings; they were mostly summaries on the topics that would be covered. And God forbid someone should actually be prepared for the following meetings.
He wasn't that worried that Alfred hadn't gone. …Though, he usually did attend the first meetings…
"Yes, well, I really must be going. I have many important… matters to attend to."
Arthur could almost see Matthew nodding his head rapidly. "Ah, of course. I'm sorry I b-bothered you!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure the git's fine," he added as a last thought.
"Um, thank you, Arthur. I guess you're right. Have a nice day."
There was a click, and then there was silence.
"Such a good boy. … Whoever he is, anyway."
He returned to his now-cold tea and ruffled newspaper.
After hanging up the phone, Matthew sighed once again. He'd known Arthur for how many years, now?
Now, something Alfred had overlooked when he had concocted his master plan was the presence of his twin brother. Of course, many people always overlooked him, but Matthew was the one chink in his "perfectly" formulated plan. For, you see, Alfred had asked Matthew to pick him up for the main meetings following the opening meetings.
Time restraints can make it difficult for people, specifically Alfred, to think of such small details.
He picked up the phone again and dialed his brother's number.
After pressing the receiver to his ear, it seemed almost as if the answering machine was going to pick up, yet just before…
"…"
Silence.
No hello or anything.
Maybe Alfred really was there, and he was just playing a joke. Yeah, haha, super funny, he thought, sarcastically. He was about to hang up when he heard a crashing sound come from the phone.
"Alfred? Alfred? Are you there? Are you okay?" he blurted out rapidly.
A few seconds passed.
"H-H-Hello?"
It was a quiet voice, definitely not Alfred's. Maybe a housekeeper?
"Yes, hello, this is Matthew Williams. I would like to speak to Alfred F. Jones. Is he available?"
"A-Ah… I-I'm not sure who you're talking about…" the voice said after a pause.
Matthew coughed. Was it just him, or did this person sound a bit like Alfred?
"Alfred, if that's you, this joke isn't funny."
"Sorry about this, b-but who are you, again?"
This person. This person on the other side of the phone was most likely, most certainly, most undeniably his brother. Believe it or not, no one said "who are you" quite like he did. And for once, he was happier than anything to hear those words. Though, he was also annoyed as anything about being the victim of Alfred's practical joke.
"It's Matthew-"
Alfred screamed loudly. "Ack! H-Hey! Stop it!" There was another crash.
The phone beeped and then went silent.
Now, Matthew was worried again. Forgetting Alfred's earlier joke, what if someone had actually broken into his house?
That was it.
He was on a plane to America twenty minutes later.
That morning, the boy had woken up, unaware of where he was. He quickly searched his memory, but found…
He had none.
He didn't remember his name. He didn't know where he was. He didn't even know why everything was so blurry.
Tears began to well up in his eyes. He was… He didn't know the feeling or word to describe it. All he knew was that he suddenly felt like the only person on the planet waking up to find that everyone else has died.
He had sat like that. Entirely still, for an entire week. Not moving. His throat felt very dry, but he didn't know why. Almost as if he would die. Maybe he was thirsty? Hungry, too. His stomach growled almost every five minutes. But… he couldn't move. He wanted to die. He didn't want to be all alone.
He covered himself up with the blanket, possibly attempting to hide from something that might attack him.
The attack came two minutes later.
A loud ringing sound shocked the boy, and he unwittingly jumped off of the bed, hitting the side table on his way down and knocking over the ringing object. Part of it hung down from the cord attaching it to a box.
For a second, he rejoiced as the sound ceased, but was immediately frightened again when he heard a voice coming from the item hanging down.
"Alfred? Alfred? Are you there? Are you okay?"
There was something weird about the voice… He cautiously picked up the thing and put his ear to where he had heard the voice come from.
"H-Hello?"
Was he talking to an object?
"Yes, hello, this is Matthew Williams. I would like to speak to Alfred F. Jones. Is he available?"
Oh yes, he was talking to an object. Nothing strange about that.
Alfred F. Jones? He thought for a bit. Nothing rang a bell.
"A-Ah… I-I'm not sure who you're talking about…" he said with uncertainty. Wait, why was he not sure about stating whether or not he knew this man?
"Alfred, if that's you, this joke isn't funny."
A… joke? Why would he play a joke on a person he had never even met…?
"Sorry about this, b-but who are you, again?" He couldn't help but want to know the name of the object he was speaking to. Especially when he had never actually spoken to one before.
"It's Matthew-"
Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out the strange silhouette of something walking across the room. He shut his eyes tightly.
Please don't let it be something scary. Please don't let it be something scary.
He slowly cracked one eye open and glanced at the area he had seen the strange shape. Oh… There was nothing there… Maybe it could have been the wind?
Failing to remember that the wind does not usually enter house, he returned to his interesting conversation with the object named "Matthew." However, the second he turned around, he came face-to-face with a grey skinned creature with large red eyes. He screamed.
"Ack!" He tripped and fell to the ground from the shock. "H-Hey!" He tried to yell at the creature, but it just kept stepping forward. And now it was reaching its hand out! "Stop it!" he frantically cried.
The creature kept coming closer. Sorry, talking non-alive object. But this is for the good of the last humans on Earth. He forcefully pulled the item off the cord it was attached, snapping the springy material in half and leaving some wires exposed.
"G-G-Get away! I-I'll hurt you if you don't!"
The creature stopped and stared at him like he was crazy.
"Y-Yeah! That's right! Stand in shock as I, um…" He lowered the article, trying to think of something to add. A light bulb lit up in his mind. That was it! "Stand in shock as I now make my amazing escape!"
He ran around the creature, out the door, and towards the kitchen.
Tony stared in the direction Alfred ran off. He sure was acting strange today…
Three hours passed passed (though, Alfred did not know that because he had also forgotten how to read clocks), and already, he had set up his own personal civilization out of chairs, the table, and a bunch of pillows. He had desperately searched for anything to aid him in his defense against the monster, but this was all he could come up with. Although, he did find a mysterious device that would give him fresh food and drinks when he opened it. (Albeit, it scared him a little as well because it began making loud rumbling noises when he closed it. But when he would open it after that, there would always be little blocks of frozen water!)
He had brought the talking object with him. After trying to speak to it, he found it no longer made any sound. He… He hadn't killed it… Had he? N-No… It was probably just sleeping… Right? He hugged the item to his chest.
Two minutes later, he was sobbing.
Matthew stopped in front of the large house. The gate was left open, one or two lights were on, and a window was ajar.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
He marched past the gate and to the front door and then rang the doorbell.
No one answered.
"Alfred! Get out here right now!"
Still, no one answered.
He sighed and tried moving the doorknob. To his surprise, it opened. Good, he would not need to damage his new dress shoes today.
Wait, why was the door unlocked?
. . .
Oh no.
Ohnononono.
He threw the door open and scanned the room. It was a mess: the couch was turned over, the table was broken, and there were several items strewn across the floor. Not good. He quickly ambled throughout the house in search of his brother.
Every room he searched looked as if it had been turned inside out. Alfred's bedroom was the worst. Nothing was left in place, and even the phone was missing, looking as if someone had pulled it off.
Had Alfred been kidnapped?
He shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that.
Then, he remembered: the kitchen. He hadn't checked the kitchen yet.
Running as fast as he could, he dashed for the last room.
The first thing he saw was pillows. Stacked up everywhere. There were blankets tied to chairs. The sink was running so much it was overflowing. Every cabinet was left open, the contents of each scattered across the ground. And in the middle of everything…
Knelt Alfred.
Though, he was not facing Matthew. His back to him, Alfred was poking his head above one stack of pillows, obviously watching for something.
Unimaginable anger surged through him.
"Alfred!"
The American visibly flinched and started turning around slowly, shaking the entire time.
"W-W-Who's t-there?"
"It's Canada."
He blinked. "Canada? What's that?" He put his hand under his chin as he thought about it. "Oh boy! Does this mean I'm not the last human on this desolate planet?" He smiled brightly.
Matthew put his hand to his face. "Look, Al, we don't have time for this kind of nonsense. I've been worried sick about you for the past seven days, and you've been sitting here, playing soldier? The first official meeting is tomorrow. We have to go. At this rate, we're going to have to get there and go straight to the meeting!"
Alfred's smile faded. "I-I don't know what y-you're talking about! W-Who are you?"
Glaring, Matthew began striding towards Alfred. "I am CA-NA-DA. MATTHEW! YOUR BROTHER!"
He froze. "B-Brother" His look of surprise transformed into anger a second later when he charged at the Canadian. "That's a lie! You're working with the creature, aren't you!"
Creature?
Matthew tried to figure things out, but suddenly realised Alfred attacking him at full force. So that's how he was going to play?
As Alfred neared, Matthew clenched his fist and swiftly positioned it to punch his brother in the abdomen.
The older coughed a bit, spitting out saliva, his eyes wide with astonishment. Finally, his arms fell limp, and he slumped over, his head resting on Matthew's shoulders.
"Stupid idiotic brother… Look what you made me do… I didn't think you hated work that much…" Matthew said quietly.
He brought his unconscious brother to his room, got him dressed in his suit and favorite bomber jacket, packed some other clothes, and then promptly left.
When they had eventually gotten on the plane, Matthew glimpsed at Alfred's face and noticed his eyes were extremely red. As if he had been crying without stop for a long while.
England was glad the meeting was being held in Italy. Despite what the others thought, he quite liked Italian food. It reminded him of the Renaissance. Its exquisite taste and herbs and texture and- ohgoditwasFrance.
Entering into the room with a casual gait, France sauntered over to England.
"Angleterre~!"
Don't sit next to me. Don't sit next to me. Don't sit next to-
He sat down on the chair to the direct left of England.
…me.
Damn it.
"Angleterre, did you not hear the sultry sound of my voice as I called your name?" the Frenchman asked, slowly leaning towards England.
"YesIsuppose," he hastily replied, holding out his hand to keep the other man at a distance of at least a foot.
The other shook his head disappointedly. "You know, if you persist in acting this way, 'gentleman' or not, you will never find a woman. Perhaps someone such as Amérique would find this arousing, but if you are trying to attract me with this performance…" He took Arthur's chin with his hand and tilted it his face up, gazing at him with half-lidded eyes. "You are accomplishing this splendidly."
Cheeks becoming bright red, England pushed him away with as much force as he could muster and turned away, crossing his arms. "Sod off you bloody Frog."
"You two are having fun, da?"
The two froze and turned to the tall Russian smiling down at them.
"All right, R-Russia?" England asked, being the first to recover.
"Very good, thank you. I was just curious as to whether you have heard from Amerika as of late. We were supposed to have a meeting on Friday, yet he never showed up."
America… never showed up?
Beginning to worry, England wondered if Canada had been right.
"Ve~ Everyone!"
The small various conversations ceased and everybody looked to Italy at the front of the room.
"I think the meeting should start now! It's, um, ten o' clock."
The sound of scraping chairs could be heard as everyone took their seats.
Russia nodded to the two European nations he had been speaking with and sat walked around to the opposite side of the table where he usually sat.
England nodded back, and France gulped.
"Okay~ So I think we should start with some…" Italy looked down, trying to think of something. "Ah, Germany…"
Germany sighed and got up from his chair. He marched to the front of the room, much to Italy's relief. The Italian stepped away and smiled happily that he wouldn't be the center of everyone's attention like this.
"Now, the first order of business is to discuss the current state of affairs in various countries," Germany declared, slamming his hands on the table. "However, I would first like to be informed of why America is not here, presently."
Presently?
Russia looked around. Oh yes, it was true. Amerika was not there. Strange, the American never missed a chance to describe his ridiculous plans.
There were some whispers, most ending with, "I haven't seen or heard from him all week."
Suddenly, the doors slammed open.
It was immediately silent as everyone looked at the hyperventilating Canadian standing there.
"I am extremely s-sorry that I am late!"
. . .
Oh… Okay.
"I am extremely sorry, but…"
England quickly realised the anxious look in his eyes.
"Lad, what's wrong?" he asked, standing up and walking towards him.
"I-It's…" He traipsed hurriedly towards Arthur. Holding America by the hand.
He shoved the boy into his face.
"D-Do you remember him?"
England blinked. "Remember him? Why, I've known this git for over two hundred years. It's not as if I could forget."
Canada shook his head. "Not you…" He pointed at America. "Him."
It was actually a bit funny to England. America? Not remember him? "Now, Canada, while I know you might want to protect your brother, the fact of the matter is, he was late, and distracting us from that cannot change-"
"I-Is this some kind of j-joke? I don't know him."
Everything was still, save for the soft sound of Greece's snoring.
"America, come off it. The meeting already started. We need to get back." England was annoyed. He would have expected this from America, but Canada was playing along. A doubly annoyed England was an angry and dangerous England. And an angry and dangerous England was an England one does not wish to deal with.
"N-No… Seriously, I don't know who you are…"
"Git! There is no time for this! Sit down so we can start! Just because you are a stupid and foolish boy who doesn't want to work does not mean you can just parade in here and pretend this is all a game!"
"Angleterre-"
England slapped France's hand away. "What? What is it?"
France shivered and pointed to America. "I… I do not believe this is a joke."
Breathing heavily from his outburst, England turned around to glare at the boy.
And then his heart fell.
America was shivering. His eyes were wide and filled to the brim with tears, many of which were falling freely down his flushed cheeks. He looked terrified.
It… It couldn't be true, could it? That America… that America didn't remember him?
He took a step towards him and reached his hand out. "America…"
The boy collapsed to his knees and began sobbing without reserve. "S-Stop it! I-I don't know any of you!"
England stopped, looking down at America with wide eyes. No… it couldn't be…
America continued to sob.
He silently wished Matthew was still alive.
He silently wished he was still under his blanket.
He silently wished he remembered who he was.
All he knew was that he suddenly felt like the only person on the planet waking up to find that everyone else has died. And become horrible flesh-eating monsters.
The girl sat, looking as if she were diligently going over some notes. However, her multiple doodles stated otherwise…
All her drawings ended up the same, though.
A certain American smiling radiantly.
Ever since she had granted that wish, she could not seem to get the boy out of her mind. He was the only thought that made her happy in her dull and mean world.
Suddenly, the notebook was torn from her hands.
"Aw, is the little girl drawing pictures of her boyfriend?"
Rigel stood in front of her, holding the book above her head jeeringly.
"Na, stop it, Rigel! That's mine!" She jumped up, attempting to reclaim her possession.
"Oh? Look at this!" He flipped to another page and took out a pen. He began writing something on it. Finally, he lowered it so she could see.
"Hey, girlie, y'know what this is?"
She squinted. "Ah, um… It looks like chemistry. Na, but I didn't learn that in school yet… So I can't help you with your homework…"
He snickered. "It ain't homework. It's a fact of life."
"Oh…" She tried recalling what she had learned in school. "Um… Is it the composition of certain atoms?"
He blinked, obviously not knowing what she was talking about. "Uh, no, stupid. It's what makes up a real star and not fakes."
The girl glared at him and snatched back her book.
"You know, if you tell me you're a useless girl, I'll stop~"
She stomped her foot and turned around. "No! Na, you're so mean!"
Laughing, Rigel strolled away.
When she was sure he was gone, she starting weeping.
"Na… I wish Mommy would come back… No one ever makes fun of me when she visits…"
Mommy wasn't mean. Mommy didn't make fun of her. Mommy didn't think she was useless.
She turned back to her drawings.
Alfred didn't think she was useless either.
ENGLAND'S MIND WORKS LIKE GOOGLE.
Little unnamed girl's mother is Haley's Comet. A comet, like a shooting star, is not an actual star. (Though, that might have been obvious to most of you.) It's more like a giant ice rock. Haley's comet is the only short period comet that can be seen from Earth twice in one lifetime, as it orbits Earth every 75 to 76 years. Stars are made up of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, silicon, magnesium, neon, iron, and sulfur. Shooting stars are, once again, rocks.
Ohoho~ Someone has developed a crush on Alfie~ Just kidding. She actually just kind of sees him like a big brother. SO MUCH CRYING. OTL I'm sorry this took a while… Oh yeah, I've named the plant Max :D Yes, Alfred did not eat or drink for a week. A normal human would have died, but he's a country. You see my reasoning?
And I watched Monsters Inc. for the 232nd time (IT'S STILL GOOD) this weekend, and I think I put something with somewhat of a reference to something Mike says… Oh yeah! And I'm getting an America cosplay! It's going to be my first cosplay from Hetalia, so I'm gonna try and go all out. *fist pump* On Halloween, I usually sing Christmas carols, but this year I'm probably going to go around yelling, "IN AMERICA." … Yeah, I still trick-or-treat. Ya got a problem with getting free candy? =3=
I think this chapter is much better than the last... But then again, I dunno. I should probably edit this stuff before I post it =3= If you see any mistakes, grammatical errors, spelling errors, general storyline errors (i.e. blatant contradictions), etc., just let me know.
Hm... I wanted to make a dating sim... Would any of you actually play it if I made a Hetalia one?
LONG RANT IS LONG, I APOLOGIZE. I shut up now.