Category: mentions of Horror [AKA HetaOni (yes, it's this chapter)], prompted fluff and violence (not necessarily in this order), humor.


Day 2 _ French Postcard

Maybe that much pizza hadn't been a good idea before going bed.

She woke up with a gasp and the lingering shadows of her nightmare were crawling in the darkness, making her tremble in fear.

That wasn't real, that hadn't happened!

"Che c'è? (What is it?)" mumbled a voice on her right, eliciting a squeak from her. Italy!

"Tu stai bene, vero? Non sei ferito vero? (You're alright, right? You aren't hurt, right?)" she fumbled frantically, making her host blink in surprise, slightly startled.

"Ve~, of course I am, we were just sleeping..." he paused, realizing "Oh, you had a nightmare!" the Mochi nodded so desperately that the younger half of the nation had to gather her in his arms to try and comfort her and at the same time not to wake Romano. "Come on, let's go and drink a glass of water."

He dragged her to the kitchen where they thirstily drank said beverage. Few moments later she seemed somehow calmer.

"Ve~, do you mind telling me what was it about? Usually with fratello and my old teammates it worked." the brunet suggested and the Mochi half-whimpered, but at last nodded.

She spoke quietly about an abandoned mansion, in the middle of a forest, where the nations had been lured by a rumor.

How once entered, there was no escape, because all doors and windows to the outside were blocked.

How dangerous creatures lurked around and hunted one after another personification, being able to actually killing them, because they weren't carrying along the strength of their nation, making them alone, isolated, human.

How everybody did die, sans Italy, who at last and thanks to the sacrifice of Germany and Prussia managed to find the exit, but, instead of returning alone to freedom, he sealed a deal with the Thing in order to turn back in time and start again the chase, to save everyone.

How after more than eighty failed attempts, Italy had been forced to change, being able to do thing alone, like tying his shoelaces or fighting, because he couldn't rely anymore on either Germany or Japan or Prussia, because sometimes they ended dead at the beginning.

How he couldn't wave his white flag anymore, because instead it had been needed as makeshift bandages for those who survived.

How in the last time loop, the most successful one, they had decided to ally as persons, not nations, in order to come to each other aid and so signed a banner with their human names.

How he couldn't sleep anymore, else risking forgetting about the next move to save somebody, but in the end he collapsed after defeating one of the monsters and that broke something: his past before the mansion.

How in that time they were a hair to safely escape all together, but, for just a slightly overlook, it had been Italy who had been killed.

Apparently the nightmare had ended here, because the Mochi had fallen silent, shuddering breathes running along it, till it gulped down another mouthful of water.

Now Veneziano understood why it was so frantic for his wellbeing. Its care touched him, so he softly smiled and gently stroked the Mochi's head.

"I won't go anywhere anytime soon, okay?" she nodded and hopped forward to cuddle his chest in an attempt of a hug, which he reciprocated. "Besides," he added cheerfully, lifting her and walking to a window, "my villa isn't that mansion, vedi? (see?)" he demonstrated opening a pane. If it wasn't locked, they weren't in there...

The bushes under the window rustled and the next instant a bulbous grey head with onyx eyes jumped out, making the Italians recoil back with a scream. However the most terrified of the duo was the Mochi, who practically fused herself with the male's chest by how much she pressed herself back.

"Corri, è lui!CORRI! (Run, it's him! RUN!)" she shrieked.

Not being told twice the nation turned tail and fled into the villa corridors, with the being hot on their tails after it climbed up the window. Veneziano took sharp turns to lose it, but its reflexes were as sharp as the Mochi's homeland, so it was always nearer than they wanted.

In the midst of his panic, the left-curl man took a wrong turn and ended in a dead end.

Like a cornered animal, he backed till leaning his back on the furthest corner, sliding down to make himself littler, curling around the Mochi like it was a lifeline, tears streaming down his cheeks.

This had to be a nightmare!

Meanwhile the Mochi wasn't in much better condition with one of the Hetalian fandom worst nightmare right before her. Despite her terror, in this flight or fight situation where the former wasn't possible anymore, the latter triggered (even if she was still shacking like a leaf) and she leaped from the hug and "stood" between the Thing and her country.

"NO, ITALIA NO! Non lo prenderai mai, dannato! (You'll never get him, damned!)" she shouted with all her might, actually succeeding in making the Thing back down a step.

There was a moment of stillness, then the Thing trembled and muffled chuckles were heard. They turned in full laughter at their confused expression, then the Thing raised one of its hands to its head and pulled, removing it.

Ah, no wait, it was a mask.

In the dim penumbra blond fluent hair flowed down, framing a smug amused face that both Italians recognized.

"B-big brother France?" Veneziano asked insecure and still terrified.

"Oui, of course! I can't believe you fell for that! Man, it's one of the best prank I've ever done!" he laughed his ass off.

The Mochi kept trembling, but now it was for another reason entirely. There was a quiet whisper "Can I murder your fratellone?"

"Just a bit, otherwise England will get mad at me for ruining his fun..." Veneziano whispered back, taking a shacking breath to recollect himself.

"Sorry, what?" France asked curiously.

"Preparati a MORIRE! (Prepare yourself to DIE!)" the Mochi leaped with a roar at the surprised nation.


Few minutes later, a confused Romano found them and, turning on the light, faced a surreal scene: France was on the floor, beaten and bruised, while not far from him stood shakily (but impressed) his little brother, encasing the Mochi inside the crook of his arms. The guest looked... paler, but so righteously miffed that made him blink. What had just happened?

"And if you ever try it again on either my Italies, next time it will be your vital regions to be invaded and not in a pleasant way!" the Mochi threatened the downed country, who let out a semi-conscious whimper.

"I'm not even sure I want to know what happened." Romano commented, with still the light blush from being called "Italy" by one of his citizen.

The Mochi huffed, while Veneziano perked up. "Oh, fratello! Big brother France tried to pull a prank on us, but it backfired on him once he unmasked himself. Our citizen can have a very fierce response on that matter, I think..."

"He's just lucky I don't really want him to die. Besides, the first time he was the second." the Mochi casually commented with a shudder. What was the meaning of this?

The younger bro seemed to understand though, because he gently petted their guest with a tender smile, crossing then his eyes with South in a "tell you later" way.

Romano huffed and, after poking with a toe the blond nation on the floor, he gave in and rudely hauled his sorry ass to the main living room, North and Mochi trailing behind.


When France became again more coherent, he found himself sore on Italy's sofa with a mutinous Romano tending his injuries, while his bro was still carrying that mauvais outil de condamnation (evil tool of doom) in his arms. It was pouting, somewhat sending him menacing glares every now and then. He shivered in response.

"Chigi, keep still perverted asshole! You don't even deserve this!" South complained, tightening a bit too much a bandage on a nasty bite mark on a forearm.

"W-what?" the blond murmured confused.

"Fratellino told me what you did to him and our guest. You're a moron! Mochi-chan* just had a nightmare about something like that! You're a failure of an older brother!" Romano scolded, neither of the three missing the shudder of the fluffy ball at the mention.

"It was just a prank, I didn't mean to drag somebody else in it!" France defended himself.

"You didn't have to do that in the first place, you know! Above all in our house! At 3 in the morning! Why are you even here?" South furiously demanded.

"Oh. I had to bring your government some documents, but my flight was delayed and I arrived late. All hotels were already closed, so I wanted to try and ask your hospitality." France explained, finally remembering his initial quest.

"By pulling a prank on Veneziano. Real smooth escargot bastard!" the darker brunet snorted in derision.

"The kitchen light was on and he opened a window, the situation was presented to me on a silver platter!" France protested.

"It was not amusing though." the Mochi muttered darkly. "We should leave him sleep outside in those bushes."

"I like how you think my citizen!" Romano beamed, making it slight blush.

Wait, are they really going to follow that Mochi's suggestion?

"Hey!" he tried to object, receiving three stern glares in return.

"It wasn't really a thing a nation who invented bon ton would do, big brother France." Veneziano disappointment actually hurt him.

"I'm really sorry, that was uncalled of me. What can I do to make you forgive me?" France begged, half repent and half desperate.

"He could apologize like Japan." the mauvais outil offered its input, making its country hum.

"The total one? It could work..." Italy turned his head to his bro, who considered the idea.

He snapped his fingers, lighting up. "Only if I take a picture of it!" South agreed, making the other two smile. "I'll go and take the camera then." He announced, running out of the room.

The Mochi raised its face to the remaining Italian with a cute puppy expression, making him smile. "Yes, you'll get this one too."

"Yey!" it cheered, confusing the blond. What were they talking about? The photo?

"Uh... Exactly how bad was my prank related to your guest's nightmare?" he dared to ask, as the fluffy froze, prompting its homeland to pet it

"Really bad. The mask you wore resembled the creature who killed several time us nations. I was its primal target though." Italy pointed to himself, making France's stomach drop in guilt.

No wonder this citizen had been so fierce in trying to protect its homeland despite the terror. It kinda reminded him about Joanne...

"Got the camera! You ready escargot bastard?" South evilly smirked.

"Oui, I am" he stiffly stood and kneeled in front of the duo (Japan had once told him his ways of apologizing) and put his hands on the floor, then leaned forward, resting his forehead on his fingers. "I, Francis Bonnefoy, am truly repentant for my actions and beg your forgiveness."

There were a couple of flashes and a second of pause.

"It's okay big brother France, just don't do it again." Veneziano reassured and the blond raised his head to a smiling little bro and a placid looking Mochi.

"You could have let him suffer a bit more, idiota." Romano grumbled.

"It was our guest's decision, I don't mind." the lighter haired brunet shrugged.

"Fine then," his brother huffed "you'll have a room in the East wing."

"But don't you sleep in the West one?" France asked, hauling himself up, still aching.

"Appunto. (Indeed.) I don't want you anywhere near us, you pervert." he exited the room, his little fratello trailing behind, forcing the blond to follow them. Once at their destination, Romano shoved the older nation into a room and locked him inside with a shouted "Buonanotte, bastardo! (Goodnight, bastard!)" The trio then trekked back to the Italians' bedroom and lied under the blanket in order to try and catch some lost sleep.

It was only after a good quarter of hour that the South personification noticed that the Mochi was practically glued to Veneziano's chest, already fast asleep.

"Why is it there?" he grumblingly whispered, making the other peek at him in the darkness. He felt a shrug before the answer.

"Probably Mochi-chan needs some kind of reassurance that I'm alive. I... just died before it woke up." his tone was so soft that Romano could utter only an "Oh".

The older half ruffled his own hair awkwardly with a frustrated sigh. "We're so messed up, aren't we?"

Veneziano chuckled. "Just a bit."

"You can keep it tonight, but just this once." he benevolently allowed, gaining an amused "Aye!" from his fratellino.

After that it only took few other minutes for them to fall asleep.


It was actually the fragrance of food that woke her. Her homelands were still asleep, so it wasn't them. Besides, knowing them, they barely ate breakfast anyway. So, curiously she sneaked out of bed and hopped towards the kitchen, where she peeked around the doorframe.

Near the stove, in full chef regalia, France stood, cooking something sweet.

Uhm. Interesting.

However, was the apology for the scare of the night before enough to accept a French breakfast?

As she saw the blond extract from the oven a tray of croissant, she decided that indeed it was.

"Buongiorno Francia! (Good morning France!)" she casually strolled inside, as soon as the hot trail was safe from being let dropped on his feet.

As a matter of fact, the man yelped (making her smile in amusement) and whirled around, expecting an attack. That of course didn't come. What did he take her for, a bloodthirsty savage?

"Hey, I don't bite!" a disbelieving expression painted the nation's face, so she amended. "At least not anymore. but you had it coming!"

The blond hummed. "Touché. Why are you awake at this hour anyway? The Italians I know usually get up later the day." he inquired.

"Ve~, mainly two reasons: when I sleep away from home in an unfamiliar place my body won't allow me to linger too much in bed, probably for the unconscious wariness." she hopped first on a chair, then on the table to raise her eye-level. "Second, ve~... I smelled your food. Usually my breakfast is just a cup of tea, but this time I could make an exception!" she added eager, making the nation chuckle.

"Seems reasonable." he smiled, then handed her (still somewhat tense) a platter of goods, which she dug in but not without thanking profusely.

After a bout of silence where France himself munched a croissant, he decided to ask something that had to be in his mind since the previous night. "By the way, why are you here? Normally humans aren't allowed inside our homes."

"Ve~, I won a contest. Dunno why they made it in the first place tough... Anyway, I'm staying here for a week." she jumped on a French toast.

"Mmmh... Maybe I could ask my boss to try something similar too..." the country mused contemplative.

"Ve~, anyone would be delighted to visit your home if you always cook like this!" she suppressed a burp, having finished her breakfast. "I pity the unfortunate soul of whoever could be chosen if England did the same." The man snorted, then busted into full laughter.

"Too right! I'm starting to like you despite being a mauvais outil de condamnation yesterday night. Though, I admire that fierce disposition of yours."

The Mochi blushed brightly, shifting embarrassed on her place, earning a chuckle from the spectator.

"How... how did you manage to come here in the kitchen by the way? I mean, Romano locked you inside the bedroom." she tried to change the topic. The transalpine man smirked.

"Arsène Lupin isn't the only French able to pick the locks!" he bragged.

"Oh, right! But I'm afraid that I'm more familiar with his Japanese iterations..." she trailed off at his perplexed expression. "Aspetta (Wait), you cannot have ever heard of Lupin III and Kaito KID, the Moonlight magician!" she gaped in disbelief.

"Ah, me oui! I just hadn't understood you were talking about them. While I do not follow the latter, Lupin III, being the grandson of my Arsène, is one of my favorite reinterpretation!" and with that the duo started conversing amicably for some hours, all the while they drank coffee and tea respectively for the French and for the Italian.


It was half an hour before lunch that the actual owners of the villa peeked (already fully dressed) in the kitchen, only to be bewildered by the scene.

Their citizen was perched on the French nation's left shoulder, while the man was expertly moving around the stoves, cooking something, all the while the duo was discussing.

"Oh, andiamo, insomma! (Oh, com'on, really!**) You cannot tell me you haven't at least given in to curiosity and had a little peek! It's your territory after all! 'She rests at last beneath starry skies.'" the Mochi insisted.

"Mon petit, even if I did (and it doesn't mean I did), would I ever tell you if she's really there?" the blond smirked at its pout.

"You're a meanie, France" it grumbled, but then perked. "But your non-answer could be the answer! She is there!"

"Wait, this is not what I said!" the cook protested horrified.

"You can't trick a citizen of mine like that, escargot bastard." Romano chuckled darkly, finally approaching the duo.

France whirled around in surprise and the Mochi lit up at the sight of the bros.

"Italies!" it leaped into the right-curl man's arms and cuddled a bit, relishing his presence. When Veneziano reached them, she chirped an enthusiastic "Buongiorno!" that made the men smile.

"Buongiorno anche a te. (Good morning to you too.) Big brother France, what are you doing?"

"Since you were still asleep, we thought to cook you lunch." the Mochi nodded at his words. "And it's also an apology for the night intrusion." he added sheepishly.

The Italian halves stared in disbelief at the French, while a sole thought crossed their mind: Who is him and where's France? However Veneziano added also: Maybe the Mochi's influence is an actual thing!

"Even if it's not pasta, big brother's food is still good." the taller Italian mused, peering at the stove.

"HA! Of course it is, I'm not Angleterre. Or America." he added in an afterthought.

"Yeah, have you ever seen how they do spaghetti alla marinara?" the Mochi asked horrified. "Ketchup. Why ketchup?!"

That's disgraceful!" Romano sneered.

"A swear against the pasta gods!" Veneziano exclaimed bewildered.

"The Flying Spaghetti Monster?" the citizen asked curiously, forgetting its previous fury.

"The what now?" France inquired perplexed.

Once introduced the topic, the quartet started conversing about human myths they were or weren't aware of, given the multiple dominations on either territories. (Meanwhile they had set the table and started lunch.)

Things kinda degenerated once the temporary sweet asked about Tutatis and Vercingetorix, because the subject changed to national comics, the guest being at last somewhat neutral, because it loved both Goscinny and Uderzo's and Jacovitti's works.

After finishing lunch and being a sunny day, hosts and guests unconsciously decided to camp outside in the enormous garden, in the shade of one of the multiple trees.

The air was warm and the gentle breeze coming from the bay induced a pause in the discussion (ended in talking about various art styles) then in a peaceful silence.

Romano was under the shade beside his brother, who was also half under the light, while the Mochi and France were contently tanning and dozing in the warm.

"Never I would have thought about being in a situation like this." the older Italian whispered, looking at the other three.

"Mhmm. I think it's due to the Mochi." a golden-brown orb stared at the white fluffy ball.

"I like it. It's not an idiota like you, at least." he corrected, but without the usual meaning.

Yup, it's the Mochi. Veneziano smiled, drifting into a nap of his own.

They woke up at twilight, France was dusting off himself, sighing, while the other nations were stretching and the Mochi yawning.

"Ve~, I wonder if we'll even sleep tonight with so many naps." the North half said, chuckling.

"With how much you love sleeping in vacation days? I doubt you won't." France ruffled his hair then sighed again, checking his phone. "I have to go, my boss has just started stalking me."

"Aw, pity! You weren't so bad after all." she smirked at the transalpine surprised expression.

"Oh, really? We'll have to see each other again before the end of your vacation then." France crouched down to look better at her.

"Ve~, definitely! But no more pranks, or the next bite will leave a scar!" she mock threatened, as Romano picked her up jealously.

"Oui, mon petit, I will count on it!" the blond saluted and departed towards the exit gate, vanishing from sight after few minutes and a corner turned.

"I love your cooking more though." she said out of the blue moon, surprising her homelands.

The trio exploded in laugher and went back to the villa, where they prepared a pasta dinner. The following hours were spent reading what they had missed the previous night and, as France had predicted, the lazy side of the nations rose its head, making them start a chain of yawns. Personally, she blamed both the post-nightmare scare and the first real period of freedom after the degree for her tiredness.

So, shortly after a round in the bathroom to change in their "pajama" the Italians went to bed, where strangely Romano drew her more towards him. A mouthed "geloso~" ("jealous~") from Veneziano, when the older half was distracted, made her snigger silently in understanding and acceptance.

After all I did have thought that Romano deserved more love... she reflected, drifting to real sleep, hoping not to dream about the mansion anymore.


* Here the suffix "-chan" is used in its "little animal of unidentified gender" connotation, not female one.

** Not my best translation, but the literal meaning doesn't give the same emphasis, so I used the next best thing.


A/N. Here, in honor of the May 5th have a French bonus. xD

I know I didn't mention England's sacrifice and Romano's and Spain's joining the party, but the Mochi's trauma was basically focused on Veneziano's last dead, so I omitted some parts to make the narration more fluid (though she told him all the story among the lines).

The switch between "she/her"-"it/its" pronouns is due to a change of PoV: obviously the female references are from the protagonist's one, while the agender ones are from both Italies. This is because neither personification is aware of the Moshi's gender, so for them is simpler talking about her in an unidentified way. Not because they think about their citizen as an object/food.

If France became OoC (and I hope he didn't) I blame the Mochi's influence. Though, they will meet again, I hope you would like it!

The unshameful mentions/quotes from the Da Vinci Code, Asterix & Obelix, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Jacovitti make me regret nothing! (/°O°)/ You can take it whatever you like. ;)

Thank you lonely follower, your contribution made my heart burst in tears!

Hope you've liked this chapter and you'll follow the nexts too, so type ya soon!