Alright-y! So... Hello! Hazel is finally back with another chapter! I'm so sorry, to whatever readers I have! WAUGH! The past few weeks have just been a bit of a nightmare of not getting enough sleep and trying to be a good Asian kid. Soo... Yep. I've been exhausted as flip and right now I'm almost dying as I prepare to post this chapter! It's a fat one, so that should make up for over three weeks absence? / / is shot by nonexistent readers. Welp, that's life, so it seems. Tomorrow I'll be posting a teaser of the end. I know the story is trickling as fast as molasses right now... But there's actually already been a WHOLE BUNCH of hints to the fast-paced parts of the plot. Oooh, it's going to be awesome! / / fangirls over own Fanfiction, is shot again. Heh, so, long author's note is long. See if you can pick out the foreshadowing and maybe PM me or drop a review if you do!
England: *thinking* Why is she so shameless?! Ugh... What a stupid authoress.
England: I'm going to leave now, before you make a fool of me in the sto- LET GO OF ME YOU BLOODY GIT!
Hazel: NO! YOU ARE NOT LEAVING! YOU HAVE A VITAL PART IN THE PLOT!
England: Let. Me. GO!
*Meanwhile, in the distance...*
Dactyl: *is kneeling in the grass watching Hazel try to drag England back*
Dactyl: Oh, she's one crazy authoress alright. *glances down at the main plotline*
Dactyl: I just wish I didn't have to... Oh never mind. Since they're busy killing each other, I suppose I should do the disclaimer. Hazel does not own Hetalia. Now, do I have to do the eye-salute thing? Nah.
Hazel: *is all disheveled from the fighting* NOW, READ!
Dactyl: WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!
Chapter Three
I'm ready!
Dactyl squinted slightly in the strong sunlight, made even more blindingly bright by the towering glass buildings that surrounded them. Beside her, she could hear Lysithea's dress ruffle as she shuffled her feet nervously. Glancing sideways, she managed to catch her agitated friend's eyes.
Almost, just a bit longer, she mouthed. The bushy-haired woman nodded tensely before visibly forcing herself to relax. Dactyl watched for a moment longer before redirecting her gaze back to the front. At her toe-tips, a transparent staircase slowly unfolded itself until the end of it touched the ground. With one last ringing note, the church bells stopped their tolling, only to be replaced by very quiet trumpet fanfare. The crowd was silent, anticipating. Taking another deep breath to calm herself, Dactyl began advancing down the staircase with practiced, graceful steps. The rest of the delegation followed in a perfectly symmetrical V-shape. When the crowd saw them, they went wild. Elated screams of their praises rung in Dactyl's ears, almost deafening her, but she paid it no mind. The Pandorans back home had much of the same reaction whenever they saw an anthropomorphic province.
One step. Another step. Measure it, don't let yourself stride.
Dactyl almost jumped at Iliad's sudden voice in her head. A quick glance to the side revealed that the no-longer-little-girl had altered her age for this appearance so that she resembled a young woman in her late teens. She gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement at the attention before redirecting her eyes down at the crowds in obvious dismissal. The closer they got to the mob of people, the louder the screams and fanfare became. Eventually, it grew to the point that Dactyl couldn't even hear herself think. From this distance, she could see their facial features clearly, and it shocked her that they were so similar to her own. One wan smile set everyone below the staircase screaming and cheering louder than ever. Lysithea glared at her friend from the corner of her eye, grumbling a complaint about her ringing ears. Dactyl muttered a quick apologetic reply, which she highly doubted was even heard. In an attempt to calm the crowd, she stopped looking down and instead looked up. A magnificent view of the many glass towers greeted her eyes.
Whoa...
From their spaceship, the large buildings had looked tall enough, but from down on the ground, it truly looked as if they were about to rip a piece off the sky. Dactyl craned her neck back as much as the occasion allowed, which wasn't far, in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of the tops of the buildings. She failed but made a promise to herself to visit the place again someday so she could see all there is to be seen in the little square of wonders. A short while later, they were almost at the bottom of the staircase. By now, their neat V-shape had fanned out into a horizontal line, following the width of the stairwell. Barely ten steps later, they stood where the staircase meets the ground. Across the no-man land, the Earth the two delegations stared each other down like two wolves daring the other to move first. Secretly, though, the Pandoran delegation were all rather surprised and confused.
Dactyl frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowing together. Back on Pandora, all of the provinces' representatives had been females. It was a completely new concept to her for men to represent a nation. However, the way that all of them dressed left no room for debate as to who they were. Stiff, starched jackets, ornate decorations, medals, it all resembled Aegaeon's choice of clothing which meant that they must be their military uniforms. Dactyl had to suppress a shudder at the creepy grin one of them was giving her; it made chills go up and down her spine at how innocent, yet somehow threatening it seemed. She decided to try and distract herself by counting heads.
One, two, three, four... there's eight... Wait no. Nine of them. One of the men, with wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and dressed in a very flashy uniform closed one eye at her then opened it again.
What? Was that some sort of salute? Do I have to do it too?!
Dactyl mentally skimmed through the manual on Earth-people, and was panicked to find it had nothing on this sort of behavior; at least nothing she could remember. Hoping that she wouldn't offend him, Dactyl merely inclined her head the fraction of an inch before diverting her eyes, and promptly jumped at the loud voice that came from nowhere.
"Let's give a warm welcome too... THE PANDORANS! DACTYL, LYSITHEA, KENNETTRIA, BEBHIONN, ILIAD, KARI, AEGAEON, NESO, ANNNNND DEIMOS!"
A thunderous noise erupted from the crowd. A quick glance revealed that all of them were slapping their palms together in the 'universal sign of appreciation', to quote the manual. Dactyl was too focused on trying to remember if the book had said anything more on this behavior to notice that there was someone standing directly in front of her. He cleared his throat, shocking the Pandoran out of her reverie with a stifled gasp. Dactyl blushed in embarrassment at her slip-up and quickly slipped her arm through his. She looked up to apologize, but suddenly the man did that strange eye-salute thing!
AGH! There it is again!
Disoriented, Dactyl chose not to respond at all this time so as not to make a fool of herself. Around them, the paparazzi went berserk and cameras flashed, no doubt recording the moment so it can be replayed on TV as a topic of juicy gossip. However, this sudden surge of attention was mistaken by the poor Pandoran as a sign that she'd done something wrong.
OH LORD I MESSED UP!
Deciding that she should make amends, Dactyl steeled her nerves. Whirling around slightly, she repeated the man's gesture. Once she was finished, she gauged his reaction. He looked a bit shocked, but the grin came back big as ever and there was a definite spring in his step as he led her towards the limousine. Dactyl smiled; if his reaction was anything to go by, she'd done something right! They continued down down the corridor of people towards their limousine. By now, the bright flashes of the camera in combination with the glaring sunlight was about to make Dactyl blind. Thus, when they finally arrived and the driver opened the door, Dactyl slipped inside with a grateful nod… and promptly almost gagged at the overwhelming scent of roses and inside of the car smelled (reeked?) strongly of it, making her conflicted as to whether she should cover her nose or not. The inside of the car was fairly dim as the windows were all tinted and there was a solid wall separating the driver from and passenger areas of the car. Her escort slipped in after her and seated himself beside her. Lysithea and Neso, followed by their respective escorts soon joined them. Outside, the crowd was still roaring their appreciation and Dactyl was more than glad when the driver finally closed the door.
Thank goodness, I thought I was going to go deaf...
She relaxed slightly, leaning back against the soft cushions and waiting for the vehicle to begin moving. Having already taken in her surroundings, Dactyl began running over her prewritten welcome speech in her head until Lysithea caught her eye. An unspoken message passed between the two women and after a few moments, Dactyl broke eye contact with a curt nod. She's been playing the game for uncountable years and has never lost; time to call on her long unused skills.
Alright then, let's see just who you are, Mr. Escort.
He appeared... well... Okay. Dactyl didn't exactly have words for it... But he resembled the Pandorans so much that she could almost see him living back home.
Okay, similar appearance, possibly similar behavior patterns. Watch for that.
He was wearing a white double-breasted military jacket decorated with a thick braid of gold and a multitude of colored ribbons, on some of which were suspended medals. As they highly resembled the ones she'd seen pinned onto Aegaeon's jacket, Dactyl was led to believe that they were proof of service. To go with the jacket, he was wearing straight white pants. Both articles of clothing were neatly pressed, making him look like a highly-esteemed general. There were plenty of other little details like his epaulets and cap, but Dactyl only skimmed over those. The majority of her attention remained on the medals.
So many... He must have been a soldier or something. Better watch out then; he'll have sharp instincts and possibly a good sixth sense, though they may be solely focused on the physical aspect of self-defense. Might want to take note of that.
The man looked over and almost caught Dactyl staring, but she looked nonchalantly away just in time. A few seconds later, he turned to look at something else and she resumed scrutinizing him. There wasn't much unusual about the man, really. He looked perfectly normal, but the way he literally sprawled himself all over the seats certainly wasn't. If this had been one of her own citizens, Dactyl would've been very ashamed at the behavior, but something about this posture just seemed to suit the man, even in formal carelessness earned him a murderous glare from Lysithea's escort, a bushy-eye browed blond (kind of like her own escort, but his was a shade darker than the other man).
Okay… judging by how the other man is glaring at him, they may not have the best relations. However, strangers don't glare at each other for bad posture, so I'm going to guess that they are also somewhat close. He's relaxed in the face of such a monumental event, so he isn't the type to stress and he doesn't seem to care for formalities either.
By now, Dactyl was pretty sure that she'd gotten a good estimate on his character. He didn't seem to be a strict and commanding type, but if he had been chosen to be the first escort, then he must have some sort of superior ability; most likely leadership. His posture and indifference conveyed a complete disregard of custom and rules which meant that he may prove dangerous later on as a freelance. Dactyl would have to be on high alert if she ever gets on his bad side since she's only ever worked with the straight-laced, serious Aegaeon in combat before.
Now, time to see how he is in conversation.
Dactyl stared hard at the side of his face, waiting for his sixth sense to kick in and for him to look over. It never did, and she was left watching him very intensely for quite a while much to Lysithea's amusement. Even Neso was having a bit of a hard time keeping her composure at Dactyl's epic failure; what little uncovered portion of her cheeks was visibly being bitten to stifle a laugh. Seeing that her more… discreet way of trying to get him to initiate small talk was not going the way she'd wanted to, Dactyl tried switching methods. She lightly bumped his shoulder with hers, hoping that he'd look over and say something. That didn't work either, but she kept trying. Eventually, Dactyl gave up and simply went with clearing her throat. This caught his attention at long last and she sighed in exasperation.
Never mind his sixth sense; he can't even read the atmosphere!
Sky-blue eyes met marbled and the two held for a moment before the former crinkled into a grin so huge that they almost shut. The effect was so cheerful and sunny that Dactyl couldn't very much help her also widening smile. A gloved hand extended towards her and she placed her hand in his, gripping it in a firm shake.
OWW!
Dactyl let out a small gasp of pain when her hand was squeezed back far too hard. Her bones felt like they were about to break from being under all the pressure they were under. Another moment of agony later, the pressure vanished and she discreetly shook out her hand, returning it to her lap. The blonde man was still grinning like nothing had happened. Lysithea's escort was growling furiously, eyebrows knitted together in anger. But then, speaking of escorts...
I thought we all had an escort...Dactyl wondered, confused. She tried concentrating a bit harder on the empty space beside Neso and to her utter surprise, a man that greatly resembled her escort slowly materialized from thin air.
W-what?!
It was very hard to mask her shock at his sudden appearance, but she did her best. Her escort couldn't hold in his amusement at her expression any longer and burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Dactyl turned to him and arched a delicate eyebrow as if to ask 'Problem?' It took a while, but eventually he calmed down, wiping away a tear while muffling a snicker.
"Staring is rude, ya know. That's my brother Matt- I mean Canada by the way," he said, voice a bit shaky from laughing. Then he flashed her his biggest Cheshire grin yet, eyes closed and all, along with a thumbs up.
"I'm the hero, ol' U.S. of A, America! Who might you be?"
Dactyl couldn't exactly answer his question as she was too busy stifling a giggle at his silly expression. Her lack of response made the man frown and pout childishly, furthering her amusement. A fully-grown man in a crisply pressed military uniform pouting; it made for a very funny sight. A few seconds later, the man joined her in her mirth and the two laughed for a full five minutes before they managed to regain their composure. Wiping a tear of laughter from her eye, Dactyl was the one to extend a hand this time. He shook it, this time a lot less painfully.
"Call me Dactyl. It is very nice to meet you, America."
"I would say the same, but it's AWESOME to meet you!" Another round of chuckles.
Okay he is pretty fun to talk to. A lot of charisma, though he may use that to his advantage later on. I'm going to have to watch out for that but for now. America, not a bad name.
Their cheerful conversation continued until they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. She turned around to see Lysithea's escort. He looked a bit uncomfortable, but annoyed nonetheless.
"I apologize, Dactyl, love, but I believe that it may be time to introduce ourselves to each other, not only our escorts," he explained in a heavily accented voice. Each syllable was enunciated clearly so that it was almost impossible to mishear the words said. Beside him, Lysithea turned around to catch the attention of Neso. That wouldn't have been necessary though; the quiet girl had been listening intently the whole time. When all attention was trained on the man, he resumed.
"Alright then, I believe that as our guests, you should introduce yourselves first. Dactyl, would you please do the honor of allowing us to be better acquainted?" He gave Dactyl an expectant look. She stayed silent for a minute, preparing what she was going to say. Now Dactyl wasn't exactly enthusiastic to give out information to people she wasn't sure she could trust yet, but for the sake of manners, she'd reveal a little. Despite not having talked with the man for long, Dactyl knew that it may be in her best interests to be a bit more cautious with Lysithea's escort. From the aura he gave off, it was very plainly obvious that the man was no stranger to the game of politics.
"Thank you, sir. As you appear to already know, my name is Dactyl, also known as The One Kissed by the Moon and Sun. Like my name, I am the personification of the province of Dactyl on Pandora."
"Mine is Lysithea, though many know me as The Queen of Fairies. I'm also a province. It is wonderful to be acquainted with you all. Neso?" The younger girl hummed in acknowledgement before speaking.
"I am Neso, and I am, likewise, an anthropomorphic province. My title is The Seamstress. It is a pleasure." No one missed the shudder that went through all three escorts at the sound of Neso's chilling, ethereal voice. Lysithea shot Dactyl an amused smirk, which she returned. Almost everyone had reacted like that when they heard the young girl speak for the first time; maybe it had something to do with the immense power in the girl's possession. Once they'd recovered, the representatives from Earth introduced themselves.
"I'm America, the hero!"
"Use proper grammar, you bl- Oh, please pardon my terrible behavior, Dactyl, Lysithea, Neso. I am known as UK, standing for the United Kingdom Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, I actually embody England. It is my pleasure."
"I'm Canada, and from the way you guys are looking at me, you're probably wondering why I look so much like America. I'm his twin brother, eh."
Following Canada's introduction, awkward silence fell over the entire group. It was then that Dactyl finally realized that the limousine was moving. For how long it had been she wasn't sure, but if their speed was anything to go by, they were already very far away from their aircraft. Suddenly, Dactyl's mind buzzed with the familiar feeling of telepathy. She relaxed her mental guard and allowed Iliad entrance, but not before a wary glance at America, UK, and Canada. While she'd trusted them with her name and title, which most people knew anyways, this was much too delicate a matter. Their powers would be hidden for now until they were in a more private location.
Dactyl?
Yes Iliad?
Good! I've been trying to contact you on and off for the last eternity! How are you faring?
Well enough, I guess. Our escorts so far have been alright... I'm with Lysithea and Neso and their escorts. Lysithea's is a blonde man with green eyes and bushy eyebrows and Neso's is a strangely silent man with wavy but also blonde hair and purple eyes. Do the descriptions ring a bell?
Yeah, they do in fact. The power of telepathy is very great you know, Dactyl. I can see everything you've experienced in your mind. Dactyl growled indignantly at this.
Iliad!
Sorry! Sorry! I didn't go past that! The rest of your memories are perfectly safe! I didn't touch them, not at all!
Dactyl sighed and forced down her annoyance.
Well, now that you've seen everything you probably know that I'm doing good. What about you?
Iliad answered this question by opening her mind to Dactyl, who didn't hesitate before plunging in. Her eyes grew dull as her consciousness exited her body. From across the limousine, Lysithea glanced at her friend before smirking ever so slightly.
"Oi, England?" She nudged the dozing blonde man leaning on the seat beside her. He woke with jolt and was a bit disoriented at first until his eyes finally found Lysithea. The surprised look slowly faded into a semi-warm smile as he fully returned to the waking world.
"Yes, Lysithea? What may I assist you with?"
Lysithea feigned a nervous smile and glanced away, hoping that she was blushing. That would really put the finishing touch the shy look she was going for. She shuffled her feet a bit before looking back at the Earthen nation. He was still smiling warmly, though it was slighted frosted with suspicion. He could tell that she was acting, and was going along with it despite his knowledge. Good thing that this time, she held no malicious intentions.
"Can you please tell me more about the current political situation on Earth? We'd already heard it from our foreign relations department head, but it would be a lot more accurate from an actual nation on Earth, right?" She asked, feigning the timidness that she would've, under normal circumstances, scoffed at. Lysithea could sense the air around England relax at her request; no doubt he'd expected something worse.
"Alright then. Well… We are doing relatively…" He began to explain in detail the situation on Earth and Lysithea only half-listened, keeping one eye on America. He was getting dangerously close to the unconscious Dactyl, a slightly curious expression on his face. She was just about to call for the man to join the discussion when England beat her to it.
"Oi, America! What are you doing? Can't you see that she is dozing?! Leave her be and come help me explain the Earthen political system to Lysithea here." Said woman bristled a bit at the statement.
I KNOW how Earthen politics work, you idiot. What do you take me for? She opened her mouth to graciously deny the offer, but then it struck. He was testing her. England was testing her.
Damn you. You knew that I was already very clear on how your governments work…!
Now, thanks to the stupid man, Lysithea was in a bit of jam. If she denied the offer like she'd planned, then America would go on and snap Dactyl and Iliad's psychic bond. The subsequent violent shock would reveal the telepathic connection and with it, their powers. If she accepted the offer, he'll know that she is hiding something, even though he won't know exactly. However, if the man's wit was anything to go by, England would figure it sooner rather than later. Lysithea decided to take the risk.
"Oh no, England. That will not be necessary. I am already very clear on how Earthen governments work," She said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Forest green eyes narrowed slightly, but the smile never faded.
"However," Lysithea turned her attention to America.
"I would very much appreciate it if you would leave Dactyl alone. She is very exhausted due to the long journey and it is a wonder that she has managed to stay with us for so long. Let her nap for a bit longer, and then you can talk to her. Does that seem fair?" Now it was England's turn to bristle at the patronizing undertone, though America himself seemed completely unaffected. He simply pouted and switched seats to talk with Canada. Poor Neso was trapped between the two, though she hid her discomfort well. Lysithea turned back to England. Their eyes met challengingly and she smirked.
"Go on?" She asked innocently.
Two can play this game, my friend.
The first thing that she registered was two arms being thrown around her, crushing her into an almost painfully tight embrace.
Dacty's eyes burst open, arms automatically attempting to flail herself free. However, as her air supply was being slowly depleted, she quickly lost the energy to do so.
Why, isn't this déja vu?!
With her last gasp of air, she opened her mouth to shout for help. However, she was beat to it by a deep, gruff voice.
"Italy! Let her go this instant!"
"Veee! Germany is scary!" The arms tightened and Dactyl let out the remaining air in her lungs as a short gasp. Pins and needles began to crowd her vision before as sudden as it came, the bone-crushing pressure disappeared. Dactyl immediately leapt up (or at least as far as the low ceiling would allow) and scooted as far away from whatever had hugged her as possible. She stayed there for a moment, eyes swimming and trying to regain her breath. When the mental connection didn't snap, Dactyl sighed in relief.
Thank goodness…
It took a few seconds to reorient herself after the attack. She was no longer in her own limousine, but Iliad's. The smaller girl's body currently held two souls, one awake, Dactyl's, and the other in a coma-like state, Iliad's. Knowing that her time was short, she set to work, surveying her surroundings as quickly as possible. The vehicle itself wasn't too different from Dactyl's own, but the people inside couldn't be more… diverse.
Good lord, it's even more chaotic here!
As it turns out, she had been attacked by a small brown-haired man. His golden eyes were currently brimming with tears as he cowered under the scolding words of his companion, a large blonde man with piercing ice-blue eyes. A quick sift through Iliad's recent memories revealed their identities.
North Italy and Germany, eh?
Dactyl delved further. Apparently, North Italy was also known as Feliciano and was a majorly scatterbrained cry-baby. Germany, well, to say it simply would be that he was the complete foil of Feliciano. Straight-laced, strict and intimidating, Dactyl wasn't surprised when Feliciano burst into sobs at his words.
He seems so much like Aegaeon... She moved on, but not without a snicker at the witty nicknames her current host had come up with for them.
Pastabrain and Sir E. Manual, nice one Iliad.
Before continuing her search through the aforementioned girl's mind, Dactyl pulled out briefly for another quick surrounding check. Germany and N. Italy were still at it beside her while in the seat across, Aegaeon was looking slightly annoyed. One empty spot over sat Bebhionn. When Dactyl caught her eyes, the other woman stared apprehensively for a moment before understanding dawned in those brown eyes. It was soon replaced by amusement and she nodded slightly in acknowledgement, as if she knew that there was someone else other than the previous six in the car. Dactyl sighed.
I have never managed to figure out how she's able to do that...
Dactyl shoved her thoughts to the back of her mind in favor of focusing on the man sitting beside Bebhionn. He'd stayed silent throughout the entire chaotic sequence of events. While his face was expressionless and stoic, his white knuckles said otherwise. Something about him intrigued Dactyl; unlike the others, his hair was ruler-straight and black like the finest obsidian. He gave off a much different air than the flighty Italy, stern Germany and over-energetic America. It was a lot more quiet and also somewhat exotic; it really reminded her of Kennettria, just with the volume dial toned down quite a few notches. Despite never having heard him or seeing him before this, Dactyl could put a name and voice to his face.
Japan, the country of the rising sun. He sounded nice enough, quiet but mysterious.
Dactyl put down a mental note to keep an eye on him; it was very possible that he would be hiding something dangerous in his silence.
After all, the most unassuming ones tend to be the most threatening!
She returned back to reality just in time to see Italy pounce on Japan and start crying into his shoulder. The smaller man's eyes widened and he began trembling in some strange semblance to fear. Eventually Germany had to yank Feliciano away, seeing as the other was doing nothing to help himself. Dactyl chuckled.
Or not.
A small movement at the corner of her vision caught her attention. Bebhionn was watching her intently.
Are you finished? She mouthed.
Yes, Dactyl mouthed back. I'll see you in a bit.
Bebhionn nodded in understanding. It was only then, after she'd turned back to the spectacle, that Dactyl let herself slip away into empty blackness.
Lysithea growled quietly to herself. The game. She was losing, and England knew it, if the slightly malevolent glint to his eyes were anything to go by. In the seat across, Dactyl was still dead to the world, eyes closed and barely breathing. She'd been like this for the past ten minutes and Lysithea wasn't sure if she could keep the exchange going long enough for her friend to return. America was getting fidgety despite the fact that Neso had taken it upon herself to trap him in small talk and conversation. Her brain felt strained from constantly having to come up with a witty and sometimes scathing retort to the Englishman's comments. Already frayed nerves tore a little bit more with every word he uttered. The conversation was waning, and Lysithea knew that should it end, Dactyl would surely be discovered.
Damn it. Ida, hurry! I can't keep this going for much longer!
No response. By now, Lysithea was about ready to tear at her hair in frustration, and it didn't help that moments later she was caught unaware by a sugar-coated prod. Luckily, she was saved from having to answer by a quiet groan. She turned to watch as pale eyelashes fluttered open to reveal hazy, marbled eyes. They slowly cleared as moments ticked by, but a haunted look remained, suggesting that there was some other being present.
Hello, Lysithea. Iliad chirped. Lysithea smiled and sent her a cheeky telepathic greeting of her own, eliciting a happy giggle from the other woman, or girl. You never could be sure with her, what with her ability to change her age and all. Across the limousine, Dactyl crossed her arms and smirked, reclining slightly back into the seat.
You know, Titania, I haven't broken completely from the telepathic connection yet.
Lysithea's eyes widened in shock and her jaw almost hit the ground.
WHAT?! She screeched, causing Iliad and Dactyl to wince at the sheer volume.
Mind the decibels... Also, Dactyl, Lysithea, we are going to have to break off for now. I think we've arrived. Can you check? You guys are in the limousine ahead of us after all. It should be a big white marble building with lots of colorful vegetation, if Japan remembered correctly. Dactyl?
Don't go digging around in other people's memories!
Fine, fine! Just check! Geez, you strict ol' fart. Lysithea had to physically stifle a snort at this, earning her a glare from the aforementioned woman. She then looked out the tinted window. Just as Iliad had described, they were pulling up to an elegantly arched gateway. A path stretched from there to a mansion-like conference hall of milky white marble. Pleasantly high-pitched chirping was ringing from some of the taller vegetation. As Dactyl watched, a small brown bird fluttered from behind a green leaf and perched itself on the fast approaching gates. It cocked its head questioningly, as if it was curious about the large metal contraption speeding its way. At the last moment, it took flight, spiraling into the cloudless sky. Its small form disappeared from sight just as the limousine finally drew to a rocking halt, tires crunched slightly on the little bits of rock littered all around. As custom demanded, Dactyl waited for America to climb out first before accepting his outstretched hand and letting him help her out of the vehicle. They then turned around to wait for Lysithea and Neso. The former, for all she was worth, practically stuck her nose up at the proffered hand and instead climbed out herself. England sighed in resignation as he could not very well lecture her on her bad manners and just followed her without a word. Dactyl had to stifle a giggle behind a slender hand at her friend's childishness, earning her a very indignant glare. In opposition to Lysithea, Neso had been much more compliant and followed tradition with a grace that would've made even Bebhionn proud. Poor Canada was looking a bit intimidated by the girl despite the fact that he topped her by a solid ten centimeters. Once they were all assembled, they waited for the second limousine.
Eventually, it, along with yet another one of its kind, rounded the bend. Out came the rest of the Pandoran provinces accompanied by their respective nation escorts. In the sudden flood of familiar and not-so-familiar faces, Dactyl picked out Iliad, Japan, Germany, and N. Italy. The girl briefly stuck out her tongue before looking away; face stiffening back into its customary mask of formality. Her arm was looped through that of N. Italy and he was chattering animatedly, earning him a variety of looks ranging from anger to faint amusement. No one made a move to stop him though, so by the time Iliad reached Dactyl she looked very harassed and annoyed. The taller woman nudged her gently, stifling a snicker. She was shoved back, almost a little harder than necessary. Thankfully, Dactyl wasn't too weak, despite not being all that bulky at first glance, and didn't fall over. However, she still stumbled a few steps back and bumped into America. The man had been pestering his poor, flustered twin about cherry flavored maple syrup, whatever that was. He didn't seem to be bothered the fact that Dactyl had just practically fallen on him, so she bit back her words of apology so as not to alert him to her stumble. Dactyl was just about to give Iliad a piece of her annoyed mind when something caught her eye, and then promptly gave her a metaphorically slap to the face; their height difference.
Good lord he is tall... She felt like a tiny midget in comparison and vaguely wondered if even Aegaeon could match him in height. An evil plan began to take shape in Dactyl's mind and she motioned for Iliad to connect the two of them with telepathy. The girl looked a bit hesitant but complied nonetheless.
Why'd you want me to do this for? She asked as soon as the bond was formed. Dactyl held back a smirk.
Look around you, Iliad.
Once again, the girl did as she was asked. By now the entire assembly has come together to stand at place where smooth paved stone met sidewalk. Dactyl could practically feel Iliad's eyes widen over their connection and the next thing uttered by the girl almost put her in stitches.
DAMMIT! WHY AM I SURROUNDED BY TALL PEOPLE?!
Weird ending is weird. Sorry for the randomness in this chapter! Like I'd said in the beginning Author's note, yes. There has been A LOT of foreshadowing in this chapter. UGH, the story is moving so slow... I really want to get started writing the angsty drama already... but alas I can't without skipping over too many important details. *sigh*
Soo... The Pandorans, or at least, a few of 'em are introduced! YAY XD! Now the story can FINALLY start moving, no matter the speed! Anyone here ever felt the same as Iliad? I know I did, even though I'm already gargantuan-tall for a person my age ._.
Well, as always, review please. It really motivates me to write. Heck, if you don't want to review, drop me a PM! I'm not a review whore, or whatever you call 'em. An'ways, good wishes to all from the Pandoran committee! (Kennettria: Speak for yourself!) Shush, Kennettria. Go away and hinder Neso's needlework or something. (Kennettria: HEY!)
-Hazel