Hello, amazing readers who stuck with me long enough to read this far! Sorry for being late, but as you already know, I suck at keeping to a schedule =.= By now, all I can promise that I will update 1-3 times a month, but I will still try to update on weekends. The costume jokes like "Shinatty-chan" and anything like that I will not convert into this story because I have no clue how to add it. So... Ludwig and Italy will not stop for anything like that. Also, please review! I need some constructive criticism to improve!

reminder:

"Blahblahblah" Is Italy and Feliciano having their private conversation.

blahblahblah is Italy's thoughts

Hetalia does not belong to me and belongs to Hidekazu Himaruya. Hetaquest also doesn't belong to me. Hetalia~!

Italy and Ludwig managed to get to the edge of the forest without any more injuries and arrived at Saia shortly after. As they walked through the streets, they asked locals where they could find the patriarch. All of them generously pointed them toward the back of the bustling town. The patriarch's home was white with a golden roof held up by delicately carved columns and decked with elegant oriental designs. The building was surrounded by tall peach-colored walls draped with ivy and a steep set of stairs led to a set of glossy black doors.

As they entered, the two travelers walked down a carpet of crimson silk. Beautifully painted walls lined the sides of the hallway, and they occasionally saw slim doors here and there. The end of the long corridor opened to a large rectangular room with a carved walnut desk and a chair. Three people stood in front of it. All three had dark brown hair and oriental features.

The young man at the left was dressed in plain grey pants and white boots with black laces. A high-collared sapphire-blue jacket with red and gold trimmings covered his upper body and a golden asian knot ornament with red and white beads hung over his shoulder. The girl in the middle had baggy cream pants on and brilliant red slippers. She wore a ruffled salmon-pink tunic with a classic asian collar in gold cord as well as a red-and-green belt and a crimson asian knot ornament with red, blue, and white beading tied to it. The last man was dressed in bright grass-green and turquoise with black sandals over white socks. A knot ornament in the same shade of green as his tunic with white, blue, red, and black beading was attached to his shoulder in a similar fashion to the other boy.

When the three siblings acknowledged their presence, Italy stepped aside for Ludwig as he walked toward their hosts. He cleared his voice.

"I am Ludwig, the envoy from Ramneyg. Is the patriarch here?"

The girl introduced herself and her brothers. "My name is Xiao Mei. These two next to me are my elder brother Tao and my younger brother Yong Soo." She then shook her head in reply to Ludwig's question. "I'm sorry, but the patriarch is not at home at the moment."

Italy frowned thoughtfully. I've seen these three before... Italy snapped back to attention as Ludwig replied.

"Even though you supposedly informed him that an envoy was coming beforehand?" Ludwig asked, traces of suspicion in his voice.

Xiao Mei nodded and said, "He was informed repeatedly, but he had some urgent business to attend to..."

"We just came all the way here through the forest. I wish he would show me some courtesy as well," Ludwig said irritably. Italy nudged him. "Lud! I don't like the way you're acting."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "... Is that so? But it's only natural."

"You're being too intimidating. You're scaring them! Honestly..." Italy smiled at Xiao Mei apologetically. "I'm sorry, Xiao Mei. He isn't a bad guy, really."

She shook her head. "No, we're the ones in the wrong..."

"Where did the patriarch go?" Italy asked. Tao was the one who answered this time.

"The patriarch Wang Yao went to the mountains in the south."

"And Kiku went with him!" Yong Soo added cheerfully.

"Kiku?" Ludwig asked.

"He's our brother," Xiao Mei answered. "He's the eldest one."

"What were your brother and the patriarch going to do in the mountains?" Italy asked curiously.

"Some monsters have started appearing around here lately, and they have attacked the phoenixes in the southern mountains..."

"Phoenixes are precious creatures," Tao finished. "Wang Yao and Kiku went to exterminate those monsters."

"Actually, they should have already been back by now, but they haven't come back," Yong Soo added. His tone was worried.

Xiao Mei quietly said, "We're very worried, but I don't think we're strong enough to make it where they are..."

"Besides," Yong Soo sighed. "It's our duty to guard the Red Jewel..."

At this, Italy's ears pricked up. He walked over to the desk just enough to take a glimpse at the gem. "Wow, so pretty!" He exclaimed breathlessly.

He was correct. The jewel was about the size of a ping-pong ball and was as smooth and glossy as a crystal orb. The entire gemstone was a deep crimson red, covered with delicate etchings of countless elaborate asian hieroglyphs. It pulsed a soft reddish glow against the snowy silk pillow it rested upon.

"The jewel is very important to us," Tao said calmly.

"The Red Jewel is one of the five Gems that were destroyed by the Hero," Xiao Mei finished.

"Is that the real thing?" Ludwig asked.

As they began to discuss, Italy panicked. "Feliciano!" Italy called silently. "They've started talking about gems and a hero and other stuff I don't know about!"

Luckily for Italy, Feliciano answered back quickly. Err, It's a very old legend. Everyone in this world knows about the Hero and the Gems. A long time ago, there were five Gems that God used to create this world. There are five colors- white, red, black, blue, and green- and each one had a mysterious power. The Gems made everyone's lives wealthier, but eventually, the people who had more Gems began to get more political power. It was necessary to get the Gems in order to obtain great power, so there were disputes over the ownership of Gem mines.

"By the way," Feliciano added. "I heard that people still mingled with other worlds back then."

Back to the story. The one who put an end to those disputes over the Gems was the Hero. The Hero, along with five companions, travelled the whole world to mediate the disputes. He blockaded the mines wherever he went and destroyed all the Gems he found. By the way, I heard that this hero was from Spina so I'm proud of him~!" Feliciano said cheerfully.

"Thanks to the Hero's efforts, now only the harmless 'Memory Stone' is left in the world. The Memory Stone can be found all over the continents, so no one fights over it and it doesn't have any strong powers that can be used for war, so there was no need to destroy it. Remember my pendant? That's a Memory Stone."

"Maybe the monster in the forest we ran into in the forest was after this stone?" Italy asked silently.

"Maybe," Feliciano murmured. "The Memory Stone in my pendant is special and has similar properties to the White Jewel."

"Just in case the Gems were ever needed, the Hero's companions were entrusted to make jewels out of the most powerful Gems in each color. And then, in order to protect the jewels, they each built a town. The towns that the companions built became the foundation of nations and regions that we now have in this world, and Saia is one of them. All this time, the people of Saia have been protecting the Red Jewel entrusted to their ancestors by the Hero."

"I think... I get it now," Italy said slowly. He then thanked Feliciano for the help and addressed the other four in the room. "What if we go after the patriarch and your brother in your stead?"

Xiao Mei stuttered in shock. "W-we couldn't possibly impose on you for something like that! I mean, this is a family matter..."

"No," Ludwig said calmly. "If you say they are taking too long to come home, maybe something happened."

"Can we ask you this favor?" Tao asked uncertainly.

"Sure, you can count on us! We just came out of a forest full of monsters!" Italy answered reassuringly.

"Thank you!" Yong Soo cried out cheerfully.

"That reminds me," Ludwig said thoughtfully. "When we were on our way here, we encountered a monster in the forest that kept telling us, 'give me the stone.' It's possible that it was talking about the Jewel, so please be careful."

Xiao Mei nodded solemnly. "I understand."

"There are many dangerous monsters in the mountains. You should get ready," Tao said calmly.

I've seen him somewhere... who was it again?

"The Red Jewel is a stone that stops time for its User... We can't let anyone steal it. Please help them," Xiao Mei murmured.

She looks familiar, Italy thought.

"Phoenixes are docile, so I don't think they attacked them," Yong Soo advised.

I've seen him somewhere before... Who was it, again?

Italy and Ludwig thanked them for their time and left the room, determined to see what had stopped the patriarch from returning to Saia. As Italy and Ludwig walked down the stone steps of the patriarch's home, Ludwig spoke.

"We will need to replenish our supplies before heading off to see what happened to the patriarch. Let's stop at a curio and weaponry shop. Alright?"

"Si!" Italy answered in agreement. They quickly managed to find a store with the items they needed. Ludwig bought a glossy whip spiked with dark, razor-sharp thorns and a shield covered with metallic blue scales along with buying more medicinal herbs and potions for first aid. As Ludwig placed the payment due on the counter, Italy wandered out of the shop and to the building on the other side of the street. It was two-stories high, simple in both structure and decor. He entered it hesitantly.

He was met with bookcases upon bookcases with shelves filled with books in elegant leather bindings and neatly stamped with titles like History of Saia or A Lesson in Medicinal Practices and How to Identify and Control Thaumaturgy. Italy looked around, hesitant to touch the books, even though they might have badly needed information. Eventually, he spotted a white-haired woman in spectacles sitting at a table not far away from him. She appeared to be reading something. The woman looked up.

"Hello. Are you needing something?" she asked pleasantly.

"Err... If you don't mind me asking, what are you reading? It looks interesting."

"It is alright for you to ask. I research thaumaturgy, which what this book is centered around. Is there anything you would like to ask me about it?"

"What is thaumaturgy?"

The woman pushed up her spectacles. "'Thaumaturgy' is what we call 'magic' in this region. Magic is something that expends your spiritual energy and makes one part of nature yours."

She calmly listed off the different elements. "Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Thunder, Earth, Light, and Dark - you can control these at will. There are people who can use all elements, and there are also people who can only use one. This is a matter of gift. As for healing magic, it's not related to any element. In order to use it, it is necessary to have a gift that is different from the eight elements I mentioned before. By the way, special techniques and food are generally called 'skills'. Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

Italy nodded vigorously. When he first asked about thaumaturgy, he had only been his usual curious self, often running off in the middle of the lecture to do god-knows-what. Instead, he was now burning with questions. After all, who wouldn't want to know about magic? Except for Germany... Italy pushed away that thought hurriedly.

"Which people have the gift?"

"Not everyone has the gift. It is said that many people with the gift live either in the region of Saia or in the region of Elgnand, in Avenir. There are people with the gift in other areas as well, but they don't have the custom of using magic, many go through their whole lives without realising it. Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

"What is the difference between healing magic in food?" Italy had really really wanted to know about this one. Maybe he'll be able to prove that pasta can save the day!

"Both healing magic and food restore your physical strength, but healing magic expends MP, or your Magical Power, whereas food expends ingredients. By the way, while healing magic and food restore a constant amount, healing items such as the Healing Potion heal in percentage. As for which method is the most efficient, it depends. Is there anything else you would like to ask me?"

"No," Italy answered.

"If there is anything you don't know, you can ask me anytime." The woman said warmly, smiling. He then repeatedly thanked the woman for generously sharing such information, and walked out of the library with high spirits... only to cower at Ludwig's wrath.

"Feliciano! Where were you?! When I turned around at the shop and you weren't there, I nearly had a heart attack!" Ludwig bellowed. His piercing blue eyes smoldered with anger and utter exasperation and annoyance.

"Waah! I'm sorry, Lud! I won't do it again!" Italy blubbered, sobbing loudly. Ludwig sighed, running his hand through his hair, somehow not getting a single blond strand out of place.

"... It's alright, Feliciano. Just don't ever do it again, okay? Stop crying." Italy instantly ceased his tears, putting on his trademark sunny grin.

"Okay!"

"Whatever. Anyway, we should move quickly. We wasted enough time." Ludwig then grabbed Italy's shoulders, dragging him out of the bustling town of Saia.

"Yay! Let's go!" Italy cheered.

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