Thanks to Redbayly, Kramburg and NadiaJA627 for reviewing! Yay, I updated on time! So, this chapter's gonna be devoted to explaining and showing more about the Dark World, and I hope I wrote it an interesting way. Now, on with the show!
(Final Fantasy VII OST: On That Day Five Years Ago)
Oh… Well, that went downhill real fast.
Also, forgive her for stating the obvious, but this day was definitely not going how Hungary thought it would. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but...
She thought today would just be another day putting up with the scorn and hypocrisy of the European Union, and then cheer herself up by hanging out with Poland and the few other Europeans who actually had a brain these days, but instead she wound up finding a good friend in America, did crazy stuff with him, got whisked away to another world with him, she learned there was another world…
And that was good! America was sweet to her and he understood her situation well, and Hungary was grateful that he was kind enough to take her to his place, and be the first one to do so! She liked this development. And she missed the old days back when she was a child (before puberty) where she'd go on adventures as a nomad and beating up jerks like Prussia and Romania (although that part hasn't changed) and go out exploring. So this was a great opportunity! Especially with no cranky Europeans around to ruin it for you!
The ride through New York City was fun with America's insane driving and the pretty lights. Their little walk through Central Park was also tons of fun, with the different colored trees and grass and America's 'grand plan' to save the world from global warming and ISIS. And meeting Allen and the others…
Well, it was pretty interesting. It's very nice seeing a polite Prussia and a happy Romano. As for the angrier and foul-mouthed version of America that was Allen… Um, maybe he'll grow on her… hopefully…
And now, it looked like America decided to take Hungary to the Dark World at the same time there's political turmoil... you know, in the Dark World. Now, this was probably the part where one might think 'what the hell have I gotten myself into?', but Hungary was not one of those people. She's worried, yes, but for these people, not herself.
She needed to know what's going on.
America was aghast with horror. "Wh-Wha… Huh?! What do you mean war?! But I thought you said that things were going pretty great with the whole preventing a full-blown world war from happening!"
"Well, apparently we spoke too soon, Goldie." Allen scoffed in disdain and crossed his arms, blowing some of his long hair out of his face. "Italy's throwing a tantrum again, threatening invasion and shit if I don't stop being such a badass and powerful nation and shit. But this time it looks pretty damn serious."
Hungary's head snapped back and forth between the two Americas, feeling completely lost. Italy? What's this about?
"B-But are you sure, Al? For real?" America still looked rather pale, afraid, but somehow he then slipped into a slight Southern drawl again. "I know there have been some close calls where you barely avoid a war by a hair, but y'all say that he's all broth and no beans?"
"For starters, he's been acting more douchey than usual." Allen sneered in annoyance, probably recalling some unpleasant memories. "And he's being way too confident, like really confident. The others aren't taking this lying down, you know. Some tried threatening him, but instead of snapping at them, he just smirks like the ass he is and does nothing, like he's got this all in the bag and he's just waiting to grab the reward for himself, y'know?"
"We know these situations come and go, but I have a very bad feeling about this…" Gillen narrowed his eyes and he clutched the cross hanging from his neck. "I just don't understand. This isn't like Luciano, this is too brash, even for him, and he's not stupid. But if he's not bluffing, then I fear he must have some insane and possibly genius plan…"
Close calls? Italy being douche? What insane and possibly genius plan? She had no idea what's going on!
"Oh, Luci does have a plan, he always does." Flavio nodded gravely, and his frown deepened. "But he just doesn't tell me those kinds of things anymore, no matter how supportive I try to seem. He doesn't trust me anymore, not even Lutz and Kuro, they don't knos anything either."
Lutz and Kuro? Wha… Hungary looked back and forth between them again, still gawking in confusion.
"Believe me, Alfredo, it surprised us too." Flavio said grimly "We'd thought he'd be quiet and calm for the next couple of years or so, but recently at the last World Meeting he suddenly… grew very bold, more so than usual. I don't know what's gotten into him. And I was really sure he'd listen this time… Oh, Luci…"
Luci? Heh, well no wonder that guy was evil. But whatever, was Hungary really being ignored here? She's very aware that she's new here, but still, it wouldn't hurt to fill in her on what's going on in this world.
"What's gotten him? He's gotten ten times more bat-shit crazy, that's what gotten into him!" Allen barked, and for a brief second there was a red glow in his eyes as he smirked and cracked his knuckles. "So that's why we gotta find a way to thrash him once and for all!"
"We need to find a way to convince him to back down again," Gillen reminded him sternly, looking like they've had this discussion before. "Without causing a worldwide war."
"Yeah, without causing a worldwide war." Allen grumbled in annoyance, putting his hands in his pockets. "But we're definitely gotta thrash him, and maybe England too if we see him."
"Do we… really have to thrash Luci?" Flavio asked quietly as he fidgeted his fingers, his curl drooping. "Can't we just try to do what we always try to do?"
"But he's a bad guy! You guys gotta stop him!" America exclaimed worriedly. "Don't you think this has gone for too long?"
Hungary watched, a little stunned, as the four of them began to go on deep in conversation/argument about… what they were talking about. Okay, that's it.
"Um, excuse me…" Hungary piped up politely, trying not act snarky over being left out. She forced a tight smile. "Sorry for interrupting, but I'm new here, remember? So do you mind telling me what's this about a war and Italy? What's going on?"
"O-Oh, right, I forgot that you're new here, sorry about that, Lizzy." America stuttered apologetically, rubbing the back of his head. Hungary frowned. Oh dear, when was the last time America looked this worried? "Boy, dude, I swear, I didn't want you to get caught in the middle of this. I didn't know and if I did then-"
Hungary didn't want to hear any that self-deprecating talk. She smiled gently. "Alfred, you're sweet, really, and I appreciate that. But I know it isn't your fault and you don't see me immediately turning on you for bringing me here, do you? You don't need to apologize."
She saw America blush a little. "I-I… Gosh, thanks. But…"
"But I still have no idea what's this all about, that's right." Hungary nodded in agreement, though she felt a little bad for cutting him off like that. She looked at the four of them with a stubborn look. "Alright… So… What's going on? You mentioned Italy and the possibility of a World War. What about him?"
The trio of Dark World nations glanced at each other, looking a little unsure. Then they began to discuss amongst themselves.
Allen let out a sigh and turned to his friends. "So… who's gonna be Mr. Exposition this time?"
"It won't be easy explaining this all to her." Gillen warned in a hushed tone.
"We don't have to tell her the history of every country, do we?" Flavio asked gently, smiling warmly. "We can save that part for another time."
"Hey, she's my friend. How about I start telling her the basics and you guys can jump in whenever ya feel the need to? Sound good?" When he received nods from the three Dark World nations, America straightened up and turned back to Liz, face grim. "Thanks. Okay, here goes…"
He took a deep breath, and then started explaining.
"So you know how I told you that the nations here rule the country they represent, not the humans, right?" America asked her calmly, and a hand went and tipped the brim of his cowboy hat. "And you obviously know from Allen, Gillen and Flavio that the nations here, welp, they look and act kinda like the opposite of our personalities, right Liz?"
Hungary nodded slowly, and she gave a small. "Of course I do. It's one of the things that stand out from this world after all, other than the colors."
"Yessiree, but as you kinda guess, a result of those two things…" America held up two of the fingers from his right hand. "…the history of this world is different."
"Different?" Hungary echoed in shock, admittedly feeling a little stunned at that. Sure, she should've expected that, but still… "Different how?"
"Duh, don't you remember, girlie?" Allen stuck his tongue, clearly annoyed, and Hungary feeling offended glared at him as he patted a grim Gillen's back. "Gil here's still a nation for one, and he's not going away anytime soon."
Hungary's mouth dropped a little, and she muttered a quick 'oh' in response to that. How could she have forgotten that already?
"Ja, as I mentioned before, I never joined my brother in any sort of quest to conquer or to spread a horrible ideology," Gillen stated in a surprisingly bitter tone, and he narrowed his eyes in distaste. "Mostly because said ideology never rose to prominence and my brother… well, he is gruff and cold, but too apathetic to ever want to attempt such a thing. I most definitely wouldn't have…"
Now that was something Hungary didn't expect to hear, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. N-No… it couldn't be. She stared at them in utter disbelief. "W-Wait a minute. You're saying that Nazism doesn't exist and that Germany… your Germany… never tried to take over the world? I-I know that he wouldn't have been the Fuhrer, but Hitler..."
Gillen's face scrunched up in apparent distaste. "Well, there's obviously been a group of humans who believed themselves superior and wanted to either wipe out or enslave the others they deemed 'imperfect', just like with all other races, but it never got out of hand and I never heard of the term Nazism until Alfred told me."
"As for this cretino, Hitler, none of us ever heard of him. Si, we could ask Lutz or Roland, that's Germany and Austria respectively for you, but of course, it's too suspicious a question and they probably wouldn't care to help us anyway!" Flavio laughed emptily for a moment, before frowning. "And like I said before, there was no Mussolini and fascism for us, though if anyone would try taking over the world, my brother would. He once did try, in fact… didn't end very well for him."
Hungary only paid half-attention to what Flavio said, as she's too busy trying to connect the dots in all this information being thrown at her. So… Gillen's still a nation because he never joined Germany in trying to take over the world because he never tried to in the first place. Mussolini never came into the picture so the Italy brothers didn't… That only left Japan…
But it sounded like the Axis still somehow existed judging from Flavio mentioning a 'Kuro' with Germany. W-Wait just a minute, if Germany never wanted to conquer Europe then the world with Hitler, then…
"So, since Germany never tried to invade Poland and never started assembled a military in to do just that…" Hungary's eyes slowly widened, and it hit her again. "Does that mean that World War II never happened at all, or World War I for that matter?"
"There has once been a war, just one, where just about everyone was involved, early in the previous century." Gillen mused, looking lost in thought, and his expression became pained again. "We simply call it the Great War. It lasted five long years, and it was bloody and brutal. We all suffered greatly one way or another, but there was no second war."
"Yeah, we suffered greatly, alright." Allen spat bitterly, and then proceeded to mutter something under his breath that sounded like 'Damn Canadians'.
"That's when my fratello tried to conquer other countries," Flavio revealed quietly, shifting uncomfortably. "He succeeded for a while before..."
The three were bitter, not that Hungary blamed them. Who wasn't still bitter about the World Wars?
At this moment, Hungary wasn't sure if it's understandable or not since she still didn't know the full story yet, but she felt a little bit of envy for her counterpart and this world in general. A world where World War II never happened, a world where Hungary wasn't pressured into allying with a crazed and participating in a horrible war, it sounded wonderful.
"And those are just a couple of examples, Liz." America said, taking of his hat. "But don't get the wrong idea; a lot of shitty stuff still happened."
"Shitty's a mighty understatement, Thunder Thighs," Allen whistled, and he sneered again at Hungary. "I know you Light World bastards seen some pretty rough shit, I know that. But you think that you know some real evil nations? Heh, that's nothing."
Hungary stared at him warily. "What do you mean?"
"Well… about the whole 'the nations here have different personalities than the ones in
"Sometimes… they're better people here, like Gil and Flavio here. They're like really cool people," America gave the two aforementioned nations a smile, whom blushed and grinned at the praise respectively. "You'd find that a lot of the jerks from our world are pretty cool here, or at least a little bit better."
Hungary couldn't help but snort. Well, that sounded really… Then something occurred to her, and she stared at him. "Hey, wait. Does this the Romania and Turkey of this world actually kind of likeable?
"Nope, they're pretty terrible."
"There's a shock." Hungary grumbled to herself, and her expression softened. "So those we might we consider evil could be good people in this world? That sounds very nice…"
Oh, what would she give for a world where Romania wasn't a bloodsucking douche out to get her, Turkey wasn't a complete moron and a jerk and a had a more decent fashion sense, Serbia wasn't a complete Russia fanatic, Germany and the others didn't have all the intelligence of a turkey, and where she and Slovakia saw each other more often.
Since the history and nations here were different, Did her counterpart, Erszi, how different was her life from Hungary's? Did she spend her entire life until puberty thinking that she was a boy? Did she endure a bitter rivalry with Romania as Hungary did? Was she ever conquered by the Ottoman Empire and did she ever marry Austria? She'll have to ask later…
"But that's not all! Sometimes they got a kinda similar compass, and it's just the attitude that's different. Like with me and Chops here!" Allen smirked and cheerfully wrapped an arm around a slightly confused America. "Look at me, you don't see me being the Lex Luthor to Alfred's Superman, do ya? We're both pretty awesome."
"And we're the heroes!" America piped up weakly with a bright smile as Allen unknowingly choked him. Hungary had to smile at the sight.
"However…" Prussia furrowed his brow and he again clutched the cross around his neck. "There's a downside to all this."
Flavio nodded furiously, looking frightened. "A very deep downside!"
"What? What do you mean?" Hungary asked a little nervously at sudden change in the mood. "Are there nations here whose personalities take a turn for the worse here or something?"
"Righty-o, dude. Sometimes they're worse, like, a lot worse." America warned, and he made a scowl. "Allen told me about this world's Russia, I even saw him from some old security footage he showed me, and this guy is a hundred times worse than our Russia, Liz. If Ivan isn't evil, which he totally obviously is by the way, then the other guy definitely is."
Hungary eyes widened at that horrifying statement, and she hoped that she just didn't turn pale. "Worse? Wh… Wha… How worse can this world's Russia be?"
"Very much, I'm afraid." Gillen said gravely with a pained face, and he once again tightly gripped the cross around his neck. "This will undoubtedly shock you, but your Russia's evil and callousness pales in comparison to his counterpart… Viktor."
As soon as Gillen spoke the name, Hungary could have sworn that the temperature in the area dropped several degrees, but that was probably just the result of her old feelings of fear and despair from the Soviet Union bubbling up to the surface or something. However, the looks of discomfort from the others said otherwise. Flavio kept glancing worriedly at Gillen while holding his arms. America looked a little uneasy but his face was large unreadable, with Allen next to him obviously seething in rage.
Hungary looked at each of them, and she stared down at her boots, frowning. She recalled when Russia came for her and how miserable she was as part of the Soviet Union, seeing her culture and her people's voices crushed under his cruelty. She remembered seeing Ukraine cry as Russia and his boss starved her to near death. She remembered seeing Prussia punished harsh and unfairly every time he tried to escape to see his brother.
Russia was, and always will be, a cruel man. And if anyone said otherwise (coughSerbiacough), Hungary will gladly slam their heads with their frying pan. They clearly didn't know anything of the Soviet Union, of what many of them went through because of him.
And now there's someone… worse than him?
"He's as cold and ruthless as his very country." Gillen appeared to scowl, and he snarled as he spat his next words. "He cares for no one, not even his own sisters despite what they deluded themselves to believe, but himself. Like your Russia, he aims to crush and conquer, but his end goal isn't for company or equality, he only wishes to destroy anyone who stands in his way."
"And then there are… the nations who in your world could be considered decent or good people, but are cruel and sadistic here." Flavio continued coolly, nothing like his bright and happy attitude from before. His eyes seemed to darken. "The group that my fratello belongs to, which brings us to our current problem. He could give Russia a run for his money."
Hungary's reaction to that was obvious, and she tried to digest that little fact, as well as the fact that Italy… sweet, childlike, cowardly, ironically smarter and not blinded by pride or delusions like the others, cheerful Italy… was pure evil if how the trio spoke of him was any indication.
Sure, Italy could actually be pretty good at defending himself whenever he could cast aside he cowardliness like that battle he had with Turkey. But… this sounded too surreal.
Her first reaction? Well, she laughed, nervously, quietly, forcefully.
"Italy? Evil? Cruel? Y-You're joking, right?" Hungary laughed some more, but they all gave her disapproving looks. She stopped being insensitive and frowned. "The Italy from my world couldn't even hurt a fly. In fact, I think the only way he could severely hurt ever anyone is with his driving."
Now it was Flavio's turn to laugh, but it sounded emptier, bitter, before becoming angry. "Oh, don't fool yourself, bella. Look at us, we're the opposite of the Romano and Prussia of your world, so you shouldn't be too shocked about my brother. And don't treat this as if this were a joke…"
The look on his face darkened, and Hungary felt a chill. Then, it got worse when Flavio started stomping towards her much to the protests of Gillen and Allen. Before Hungary could even consider that she might want to get ready to defend herself, she felt someone grab her hand, and Hungary yelped when she suddenly found herself behind America.
"Hey, come on, chill out, Flavio." America frowned, standing protectively in front of Hungary. "She's still… not used to this world yet. Remember how jokey and nervous I was when you mentioned the whole thing with Italy, Japan and England-"
"If he heard you right now, laughing about you, no matter the reason, he'd have you killed!" Flavio seemed to ignore America and he kept going. "No, he'd torture you just for laughs, break that little strong spirit of yours into itty-bitty pieces and he'd tear out your-"
"Flavio!" Gillen hissed, putting his hand on the blonde Italian's shoulder, shaking him out of his stupor.
"H-Huh?" Flavio shook his head, confused and having been snapped out of it. His eyes then widened in realization, and he bowed his head. "O-Oh no, I'm so sorry…"
Hungary stood there looking at him warily. "Ah, no, I…"
"He didn't to sound like a jerk or anything. He's just worried, and he's been through a lot." America whispered sympathetically near her ear. "Italy's a real sensitive topic for him, and we try to avoid mentioning him as much as we can. "
Hungary glanced at him, then at Flavio, who was being comforted by Gillen and Allen. "What on earth happened between those two?"
America looked down, uncertain. "Not really my place to say… I'm sorry."
"For what?" Hungary gave him a puzzled look.
"For having you involved in this." He said quietly.
Hungary gave him a displeased look. "Are you still on with that?"
"Hey! Chops, Miss Not-Erszi, are you gonna keep whispering and shit?" Allen loudly called out to them.
"Miss Not-Erszi?" Hungary's eye twitched, seriously?
"He's… kinda bad with strangers." America said flatly, almost embarrassed.
"I heard that!" Allen shouted, and he put on a thoughtful look, which made him look a little constipated. "So, where were we again? Oh yeah, there's a shit ton of evil bastards in our world, Italy or Luciano or whatever's one of them, he's evil, yeah, really evil."
"But how could he be evil?" Hungary asked cautiously, and then she realized something. She shook her head. "No, wait. I mean, there are countries from our world that really deserved a good frying to the face, but except for a few nations, I don't think there's anyone who can really be considered evil."
"Yeah, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, China, maybe Syria and Serbia and a couple of others are pretty much the only bad guys now that I think about it…" America commented pensively as he stroked his chin. "Does Iraq count? He's been pretty shady lately with Iran and Hezbollah. Then again, when isn't the Middle East shady?"
"Oh, tell me about it." Allen scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I have some good buddies in there, but boy, do they creep me out sometimes, especially Emirates and Bahrain."
"I actually think Serbia's more stubborn and stupid than evil." Hungary remarked dryly, and she grimaced. "He can kind of cold and uncaring though…"
"Right?!" America exclaimed, laughing breathlessly. "You really gotta feel bad for Kosovo."
"Ah, I completely understand your pain, Allen. Bahrain's clothes are so last decade!" Flavio grimaced in distaste, and he paled. "And when I tried to gently bring it to his attention he threatened to get blood on all of my clothes!"
"Hey, Liz, you think if we got rid of Serbia, more people would be willing to recognize Kosovo?" America asked, before quickly backtracking. "N-Not that the hero's considering it, but… boy, does that guy make it tempting.
"I think you should get rid of Russia first before anything else, to be honest." Hungary said as she tried to come up with something. "Cause if Serbia won't stop anyone from recognizing Kosovo, Russia will. Kind of like with China and Taiwan."
"You know, Flavio, not everyone cares about whether their clothes are last season or not." Allen growled in annoyance. "And Bahrain really couldn't care less. You probably just annoyed the creep too much."
"Well, they should!" Flavio squawked defensively. "And I was really nice, I'll have you know!"
"Hey, I wonder how Taiwan's doing right now…"
"QUIET!" Gillen bellowed, bringing all the chatter to an abrupt stop. Hungary jumped and saw that Gillen was fuming like Germany would. "Mein Gott, You all have the attention span of a gold fish! Have you all forgotten what we were talking about?!"
"Uh… sorry?" America apologized lamely.
Prussia sighed exasperatedly and he face-palmed. Wow, he really was just like Germany! "Well, let's not get off-track any longer. There are still things that need to be explained so you can understand the gravity of our situation and how it has come to be."
Allen groaned loudly. "Oh come on! We already told her about the whole good and evil part, do we really need a history lesson? The situation is simple. Italy's evil so he wants to take over the world and destroy us so we gotta stop him, end of story."
"What if I want know more?" Hungary asked sharply with a raised eyebrow."
"Then we can tell you some other time!" Allen said simply, and he rubbed his temples. "I really don't want to talk about our 'glorious' world history right now of all times..."
"Allen, for the thousandth time, what I have told you about manners?" Flavio scolded Allen, who anxiously avoided his gaze, and the Italian puffed his cheeks and pinched the redhead's ear in response. "Don't you know how to treat a lady correctly?!"
"Ow, OW! Okay, cut it out, Flavio!"
"But it's her first visit here, and we should fill her in on what's going on in case something happens!" America protested with a disapproving look toward Allen, who was glaring at a beaming Flavio. "I mean, Liz here is really tough and the hero here will totally help her out, but come on, it's not cool to leave her out like this."
"Yeah, thank you, Alfred." Hungary smiled gratefully at her friend, who smiled back, and she frowned at Allen. "Listen, I'm sorry, but I'd much rather be in the know about what's going on. If I'm going to keep visiting this world, I might as well learn the history, right?"
Allen scowled and it quickly started to falter, probably because America's giving him the puppy dog eyes again, and Hungary smiled sweetly.
"Dammit!" Allen cursed loudly, so much that it echoed throughout the park, and he threw his hands up in frustration again. "Fine! Let's get this damn over and done with."
"Yes, thank you!" Hungary cheered.
"You're damn welcome…" Allen grumbled under his breath.
"I know you're not fond of remembering the past, none of us do, but it's something we must face." Prussia advised him softly, and he cracked a small smile. "Besides, in case you've forgotten, it wasn't all bad. Or did all the times Flavio and I spent raising and protecting you meant nothing?"
Allen flinched as if struck, and he became pale as if he saw a ghost. He waved his hands frantically. "What? No! NO! I didn't mean that! It's just… I don't wanna…"
Prussia stared at him, before realization dawned on his face.
"…I see," "Well then, I will try to steer clear of that detail unless it's necessary."
Hungary, puzzled at what the hell that's supposed to mean, looked at America for answers, who frowned glanced away.
"Well then, without further ado…" Gillen decided solemnly, and he faced Hungary with a grim look. "Let me tell you our history, our story."
/ / / / /
(Final Fantasy VII OST: Anxious Heart)
Allen's not happy with this, obviously.
Okay, he's happy that he's with his bestest buddy and confidante Alfred; in fact, he's over the moon that he's back. It's been a while since he visited and Allen missed him more than he'd ever fucking admit. And if they weren't around other people, Allen would've run up to him and tackled him in an good o'l hug. He had a reputation to keep!
It's about damn time Al came to visit too! Lately it looked like the work he's doing was 'too important' in the blonde's words to ditch even Allen would take jumping over to another to dealing with the cesspool that was American politics. Jeezus, this was why you should never let humans rule! All they'll do is screw everyone over. If Allen head to deal with that on a weekly basis, he was damn sure that he'd snap and thrash everyone after just a couple of days.
Screw work and rules, they're nations, dammit! Allen always told him to forget that Democrat and Republican drama-mama and come over to his place, or even better, maybe even consider moving to the Dark World. They could rule the country together!
But no, Alfred always said!), no can do sir. 'A hero never abandoned his duties', he said, it's not cool dude', he said. Life has never been easy, and you gotta look on the bright side. Yeah, yeah, that's true as hell and Allen knew that all too well from experience just as much as Alfred did.
But what he's not happy about was that Gillen was about to give a damn history lesson. Allen hated history lessons. Now, hey, hey, don't get him wrong. For all of Gil's uptightness and buzzkill-ishness, he's an awesome storyteller. The problem was that Allen hated thinking about their shitty past.
Heh, kinda ironic, yeah, since Allen's got a revenge list that he's got every fucking intention of completing. But still, he'd rather think about it as little as possible for the sake of controlling his shitty temper and keeping his own sanity in check.
And it's all for the newbie.
Allen glanced grumpily at the Erszi look-alike standing way too close to Alfred for the redhead's overprotective comfort. He felt something twist at his insides, and he resisted sighing or groaning like Gillen would. God. Dammit. He still couldn't get over how Chops brought Erszi's counterpart. He wasn't sure if this was the best or worst thing that could happen.
Sure she looked nice and friendly and all that, and she's definitely stronger and braver than Erszi. Allen could see it in her eyes and her damn attitude. But he couldn't bring himself to trust a Lightner, even if she's Erszi's counterpart, especially since she's Erszi's counterpart. Allen was worried that that fact will make him let his guard him and come back to bite him and Alfred in the ass later. So if Alfred won't be on guard, then it's up to Allen to protect him, no matter what it takes.
Alfred's too goody-goody for his own good. Yeah, he's not stupid, no way, but Allen's worried about him.
And so for that reason Allen wasn't really sure if they should let the Erszi, the other Hungary in on what's going on. There's no telling what'll fucking happen if they let her leave knowing too damn much.
Argh, just listen to the fucking history lesson, Allen. It's starting.
"Our world has always been a mess." Gillen began calmly with what had to be the understatement of the century. "We never really seemed to stop fighting each other. And as one might expect, it was a world where the strong thrived while the weak were crushed and enslaved in many parts, especially Europe. If you showed even one moment of weakness, it could cost you your life. In every continent and region of the world there always seemed to be at least several nations who were unbelievably cruel or insane…"
It felt like a damn curse, Allen thought bitterly. Why did there always have to be at least some bastards in every single area of the world? Even in the Middle East, he begrudgingly acknowledged that for all his genuinely close friendship with that guy unlike with Alfred and that guy's shitty counterpart, the guy had a serious issue with feeling empathy.
Allen kneeled there on the rubble, crying his eyes out and wailing as he banged his fists on the ground. Meanwhile the fucker just stood there staring at him as if he just spewed fire from his fucking mouth. Didn't he know that he's grieving.
"W-Wha… I don't understand… Why… are you crying? It was just a few thousand or less humans that the others took! You still have hundreds of millions left!"
He really didn't get it, did he?
"This has been especially prominent in the Middle Ages and the old times. If it was rough in your world, it was a hundred times worse for us." Very true, Gil. "Everyone seemed to be dealing with some type of enormous problem or problems. In Europe there were many simultaneous wars for centuries. The Middle East and North Africa shed a lot of blood in defending themselves from the Ottoman Empire and/or executing religious fanatics, though many of them ended up conquered nonetheless. East Asia… Oh, where do I even start on that…?"
Japan and China went and fucked shit up, that's what happened. Allen's lip curled up in disgust. And Europe… ugh…
"You could have been so much more, Allen-kun…." Oh, shut up and die, Squinty-Eyes.
"You should join us, return to your true family. Don't deny it; you feel the same anger and eagerness for battle and death as we do!" That's…
"My brother Russia's the best!" Suuure, he was.
"Y-You're not… angry with me, are you?" Not anymore at least.
"But the Europeans and certain other nations from other continents… I have no words to describe the atrocities they have committed or the extent of their cruelty and insanity." Gillen whispered, and turned away, as if ashamed. "It was madness, a madness that even took hold of my and Flavio's minds for a certain time."
"But you guys were still lightyears better than the others," Allen couldn't help but remind them, and he clenched his fists when they both smiled at him sadly. It's true!
"I could spend the entire day even after the silver moon rises up to the sky, for now let us focus on Europe." Gillen grabbed his cross again, which meant that he's probably gonna go into some emotional stuff. "Like I mentioned before, it is one of the worst continents, and the ones with any true semblance and honor and compassion are few. We are lucky to have someone as tirelessly kind and benevolent as our Hungary."
Allen nodded in agreement, and downcast eyes stared at his sneakers. Did they really deserve to have someone like her? She's too nice for this world.
"Oh, are you all right?" A woman's warm, gentle voice asked in obvious concern.
Allen narrowed his eyes, and out of habit, steeled himself and faced her with grumpy look. Nice or not, you shouldn't trust these Europeans so easily. "I am fine, you... whoever the hell you'e supposed to be. Now can you stop staring and leave me alone?"
God, if Flavio were here, he'd give him an earful for his bad manners, but Allen couldn't care less right now. He needed to get out of here. He needed to meet up with Gil, Flavio and the others before England…
But as soon as he got a good look at her, it took all he had to not have his mouth drop and gape like an idiot.
The blonde lady seemed to have a case of selective mutis… mute… whatever, and frowned and tilted her head. "Are you sure? You have some bruises and I have some… Oh goodness, your arms! They're-"
Allen's eyes widened as he stupidly remembered that he's still bleeding and he began to try to walk away. "What, have you never seen blood before, lady? Listen, I'm in a hurry, and I need to meet with a certain albino knight. So if you can simply get out of my way I can proper treatment before I bleed out the longer this stupid conversation continues!"
Now that should definitely chase her away!
…And he was wrong.
"Albino knight…" The blonde lady wearing way too much pink repeated, and her face suddenly brightened. "Oh my, you wouldn't happen to be the representative of the Thirteen Colonies he's always telling me about, would you?"
Dammit, he hated his big mouth!
Suddenly paranoid, Allen snarled, "Depends, who's asking?"
"I'm Erszi, representative of Hungary!" She introduced herself with a small curtsy. Allen rolled his eyes. Europeans… "It's nice to meet finally you!
Allen shook his head, shaking himself out of that flashback, despite the sad feeling tugging at his heart. Now's not the time, dammit!
"Just like with you and your Prussia, Erszi and I knew each other since a very young age." "She was and still is a fragile girl, and spent most of her infancy to early childhood in the protective care of her caretaker Magyar. Erszi never learned to fight, even when everyone thought she was a boy no matter how many times she spent telling us otherwise."
Brunette Hungary coughed, and everyone turned their attention to her. She was smiling, and looked like she wanted to either cry or laugh her ass off. "I'm sorry, everyone thought she was a boy even though she said she wasn't?"
Gillen stared at her oddly. "Ja, a foolish error on our parts, why?"
Brunette Hungary sputtered and answered, "I… grew up thinking I was a boy until I reached puberty."
…Say what?!
Allen glared accusingly at Alfred, giving him a 'Why the hell didn't you tell me this before?!' look.
Alfres shrugged and smiled nervously, saying 'Didn't think it was too important, and it felt too personal.'
"…Oh." Gillen blinked, and he blushed darkly. "I-I guess that's yet another difference of our worlds… A-Anyway…"
So Brunette Hungary never knew she was a chick until she grew her boobs? That's actually pretty hilarious if you think about it. Heh, must've been real painful and annoying for Hungary to wait years for-
Oh, focus, Allen! Don't get distracted. He tried to play it cool and crossed his arms, listening to Gillen continuing with the history lesson.
"As in your world, I was born when the Teutonic Order came to be, and they raised me. I was raised with Christian values to avoid falling on the same path as the others, and a result I devoted my life to help the miserable Christians of the continent." Why the hell was Lightner Hungary looking at Gillen like that? Was she stunned by Gil's true awesomeness? "I fought for the survival of me and the Order, as your Prussia did, and I had become, though I do not like to boast, quite strong and formidable."
Boast? Bullshit, those were facts!
"He was a like in shining armor, coming to rescue Christian damsels in distress!" Flavio said dreamily, clasping his hands, and Allen had to snicker at that mental image. "Granted, he could've taken a few more baths back in the day, but still…."
"Cool…" Alfred's eyes sparkled. Wait, didn't he already know this?
Gil sighed, but Allen smirked when he failed to hide the big blush on his face. "A-Anyway, I tried to avoid unnecessary conflicts, but to no avail. I fought Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and the Baltics, to name a few. Some battles weren't as successful as others, but I managed to establish myself as someone not to be messed with. I even fought Italy one time…"
"That's when we met actually! And we bonded when Gil was forced to ally with my fratello for a time!" Flavio piped up, and hugged Gillen, much to the latter's surprise, before letting go and flashing a grin. "Luciano never liked him very much, but I convinced him to leave him alone! For a while, at least…"
"Ja, it was… nice seeing someone with similar values." Prussia remarked with a smile that almost made Allen want to either gag or grin.
But the happy atmosphere couldn't last forever. This was where the serious stuff came in again.
"Speaking of Italy, there is something I must explain before we get to him…" Oh, here we go. "I assume you obviously know that the Italies are the grandsons of the Roman Empire, and that he was probably one the greatest and most terrible empire your world had ever seen, ja? Well, there was also a Roman Empire in our world, and he was truly one of the worst beings this Earth has ever produced."
Allen gritted his teeth. Yeah, yeah, Rome was before his time and shit, but since the guy was the bastard responsible for Flavio going through so much shit and for raising one of the worst pieces of crap the world's ever seen, then yeah, Allen had more than enough reason to hate his gusts too.
He glanced at his doppelganger, and he wasn't surprised to see that Alfred's gone quiet, but he looked a bit too quiet. Hell, he even looked kinda pissed. But still… Allen hummed in thought at this. Sometimes he wondered if it's because of Allen, rather than the blonde's own personal feelings.
"My grandfather was a very serious and cold man; he never had time nor cared for giving me and Luci love." Flavio uttered flatly, lip curled up in disgust. "He just wanted us to get strong enough to be a perfect legacy, but he always favored me over Feli. I… I guess… you could say… that I had a smidge more talent than my brother. At first I was happy, how could I not be? I finally got my bastardo of a grandpda to be proud of me. But…"
Flavio shook his head, and he gripped his head. He was crying. Allen stiffened at this. Oh god, Flavio's crying…
"It was torture! My… grandfather… I wanted to do what he did to make him proud, but I just couldn't! The things he loved to do… they were terrible! He loved to battle and paint gory art just for his own sick amusement! I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy it!"
Just like Italy did now.
"And so when I refused to step up, my grandfather turned his attention to Luciano, and he was too eager to earn Nonno's approval even though I begged him not to… But Luciano did anyway and I never saw him again for a long time, and so Rome tormented him for years and years until finally my stupid-ass grandfather got himself killed! Rome ruined him. No, I ruined him. It's my fault that…!"
Now Flavio was wailing, and Allen, unable to see him like this because dammit Flavio wasn't supposed to cry, went and tried to help comfort his big brother. Gillen wrapped his arm around him for a change and pulled him close while Allen tried to come up something, anything, to stop him from crying.
"H-Hey, bro, Flavio, calm down." Allen told him more kindly than usual, patting his back. "Come on, it's not your damn fault. You…. You should be proud you stood up for yourself!"
You wouldn't be here if you didn't!
"Rome's abuse and expectations, the trauma of his demise, and having carved his desires and goals onto his grandson ruined Luciano." Prussia stated bitterly, and he held the wailing Flavio close, and he scowled. "And the results were catastrophic."
"Nonno would've been proud." Flavio spat, before sobbing again.
"Many years passed, and then eventually like in your world, Flavio and Luciano were separated by Spain and Austria respectively." Gillen went on explaining, and Flavio's sobs grew even louder. "They were both cruel, and Italy left Austria's hosue even crueler and inhumane than before."
"W-Wait, if my counterpart ended up under Austrian rule, then doesn't mean that my counterpart was with him too?" Brunnette Hungary shakily asked, sounding desperate. "If so, and since she's so kind and sweet, then how come your Italy turned out terrible anyway? I was like a sister to my Italy! I even sort of raised him!"
Allen felt pretty shocked. So this chick raised Italy too?
Gillen closed his eyes for a moment, and he shook his head. "Ja, she was under Austria's rule for a period of time and lived with him and Italy. I saw them together even, and she was kind to him despite the little Italy's anger and bitterness. She was patient and tried to help him. And Erszi did her best, but even her best wasn't enough to save Italy's soul."
Other Erszi looked like she just got slapped in the face, and she bit her lip. Alfred, being the gentleman and the good guy he was, put his hand on her shoulder and comforted her. Looks like the fact that in one world she failed to raise Italy hit her a little hard.
"And now, in the present time and after many ways, Italy has grown tremendously in power despite his power and sharing the country with Flavio. And now he wants to achieve what others failed to do: Conquer the world." Gillen warned gravely, but he nodded to Allen and Flavio. "So, it's up to us, the Trinity Alliance and our fellow allies, to stop him from accomplishing this goal. But it's not just the world he wants…"
Brunette Hungary blinked. "It's not?"
"Nein, he wants your world as well."
Dun dun dun... Yeah, another cliffhanger. I couldn't help myself. And yeah, I went with Final Fantasy VII music this time (because that game is awesome and so is the soundtrack) because I just love the OST and it seemed to fit perfectly for the situation. Please review if you have a minute.