Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, Hidekaz Himaruya does!
After moving through the maze of hallways, as well as the occasional smacking into walls, of which Matthew apologized for; though Alfred could see the faint smile on his ghostly lips, they finally found themselves standing in front of a large, red wooden door with a little plaque on it saying "Principal's Office".
Alfred felt nervous and was trembling, yet there were no monsters around. He always hated going to the principal's office, since it usually meant he was in trouble.
Of course, this is different, he told himself, all I'm doing is going in there and asking for the principal to drop the barrier so I can leave. "No big deal." He mumbled.
"Well, this is the Principal's office. Careful when you go in there, Al." Matthew said, looking a bit nervous himself.
"Don't worry Mattie, I'm the hero, so this won't be hard at all!" He said, sounding a lot braver than he felt.
Matthew sighed as Alfred reached for the door knob, turning it and pushing the red door open. The inside of the office looked pretty normal, a few potted plants and some chairs lined against the pale yellow wall. In the center of the room was an office desk where someone was typing. There were two doors, one on both sides of the desk. Strange though…
"Hey Mattie, why do both of those doors say Principal on them?" Alfred asked.
"That's because there are two principals here. They worked together to found the school. Before only one was going to start the school until the other came into the picture, much to the others displeasure. I've heard that it's because their powers work better together than , sometimes I wonder how they get along, you can hear them fighting sometimes, but they always seem to make up and everything is back to normal. I think they must be friends or something…" Matthew explained.
"Powers?" Alfred asked.
"You'll see, around this time, they're usually both present at the office. No doubt they're in one of those rooms." Matthew replied, floating up to the desk.
The person sitting at the desk and typing, Alfred saw, was female, but she had very long hair that shimmered as it blew around in some kind of an invisible wind. She looked almost like Matthew, translucent, yet more transparent than Matthew was, and her figure seemed to be flickering in and out.
She looked up at Matthew. "Can I help you boys?" she asked in a voice that sounded like winds blowing in a field; light and airy.
"We would like to see the principal's please." Matthew said softly, the woman could just barely hear him. Heh, Matthew was still as shy as Alfred remembered. "Are they here?"
The woman nodded, "They're both in the office to the right. I think its okay to let you inside, they shouldn't be doing anything at the moment." She said, gesturing to the door then resuming typing.
Matthew nodded, "Thanks!" he turned to Alfred, "Let's go Al." He said, as the two approached the door.
"Hey Mattie, is she a ghost to?" Alfred asked as they approached the door.
"No, she is a wind spirit I think. That's probably why her voice is all… wind-y, I guess." Matthew said, stopping in front of the door.
"Aren't you going to open that?" Alfred asked, gesturing to the door.
"While I could, I'd much rather have you do the job, since you plan to be leaving. If they're doing anything important, I'd rather not be the one to interrupt. One of them has a bit of a temper." Matthew said, moving aside to make room for Alfred.
"Ugh, chicken…" Alfred said, murmuring, reaching for the doorknob. His hand was shaking slightly and he hoped Matthew didn't notice. He pushed the door open only to be greeted by a warm hug.
"Aha~ Germania~ I knew you would forgive me eventually~" Said a deep voice. Alfred couldn't respond as he was being crushed by strong arms.
"Ah! Principal Roma! That's not Principal Germania!" Matthew said frantically trying to get the principal to let go.
"Eh? Germania, you feel smaller? How odd… Did a witch shrink you perhaps?" Roma asked, not even hearing Matthew. His arms were still wrapped around Alfred, who could have sworn he heard his neck crack.
"Principal Roma! It's not Germania!" Matthew said again, this time floating over and yelling louder.
Suddenly the door burst open and from the corner of his eye, he could see a tall man with long blond hair and a very annoyed expression enter the room. "Roma! Stop being so loud! I'm trying to do paperwork and here you are calling my name! Exactly what is it that you want?" The man yelled, he was clearly angry, if his tone of voice had anything to say.
Roma looked up, releasing Alfred who stumbled over to Matthew, rubbing his sides and neck.
"Oh! Germania! You were in your office?" He asked. Alfred looked over at the man who had almost death-hugged him. Roma was a tall man, not quite as tall as Germania. You could clearly see that he was athletic, the outline of his muscles showing under his white shirt. He had brown hair, with two odd curls sticking out from his head. He would have looked pretty intimidating, if not for his shining brown eyes, that seemed to show no hint of bad intent whatsoever.
Germania grunted "I was in my office, now I'm here to see what could be happening to cause you to make such noise."
"Oh well… Actually, I don't really know." He turned to Matthew and Alfred. "Why are you two boys here?" He asked.
Alfred opened his mouth to speak, but Matthew beat him too it. "He is here to enroll!" Matthew said quickly.
"What! No I'm not! I was going to ask them to lower the barrier so I could leave!" Alfred said huffing.
"Oh? Well, Germania controls the barrier. Still, if you want to enroll, you don't have to be shy~" Roma said, happily. "Odd though, in the past year we've had a lot of new students. You would be the tenth." He murmured.
Germania sighed, shaking his head. "I'm not just going to lower the barrier like that, that takes a lot of work you know."
"But-"
Germania looked at Roma, "Do you think?" he asked, a silent exchange seeming to pass between the two of them. Roma nodded, saying nothing.
"How about you stay here for a week, and if you really hate it, I'll see what I can do to lower it, fair enough?" Germania asked, looking at Alfred.
Alfred sighed, well, it was better than nothing right? "Okay, but only a week…" He said reluctantly.
"Great! Then I'll tell you a bit about the school, it will be like a normal orientation!" Roma said happily, motioning to a chair in front of his desk as he walked over, sitting. Germania followed, sitting in a nearby chair.
Alfred sighed, a lecture… Great, "Okay then." He said, cautiously sitting in the chair.
"It's not that long, don't worry." Germania said, as though reading Alfred's thoughts.
"Erh, should I go?" Matthew asked, not sure what to do.
"If you want Matthew, you may. I'm sure you have missed a few classes." Roma said, smiling.
Matthew nodded. "Al, I'm going to go… I'll see you later okay?" he said, floating towards the door.
Alfred nodded, though he would have preferred his brother stay, Matthew would never dream of skipping class, or at least, skipping more class, so he understood. "Okay Mattie, I'll see you later then." He said, watching his brother give a nod and pass through the door.
Alfred turned back to Roma, who was looking through a file cabinet, the sound of shuffling papers could be heard. "Hmm… I think the form is here… Or maybe over here?" Roma mumbled. Germania sighed.
"Your bottom drawer, in the back, Roma." Germania said.
"Oh right! Thanks Germania~" Roma said, pulling out a paper. "Here Alfred, this is just a registration form. I just need you to sign it, don't worry, it's just the normal paperwork we have to do." Roma said, handing a pen and the paper to Alfred.
Alfred signed it, not bothering to look at it, he would be gone within the week. "Okay."
Roma took the paper, putting it in a drawer. "So, as Matthew has told you, this is a Highschool known as Roma Antiqua High School. It is a school for all those supernatural monsters you see in movies. As well as other ones you rarely see at all. There are even some monsters with very odd powers here, although, they're pretty rare, so we don't have many. For the most part, the students here are your average monster, but try not to use that term around here. They're a bit sensitive, okay?" Roma said, Alfred could barely catch all of that, he was going so fast! "Hmm, your brother Matthew is one of the special ones, actually!" Roma said.
"Eh? Mattie? What's so different about him? Well, aside from the fact that he isn't very solid…" Alfred asked.
"Hmm, well, I think he would rather tell you himself…" Roma said, "But it is a very useful gift."
"Oh… Uh, okay then…" Alfred made a mental note to ask his brother later.
"Anyways, you can learn more about the school through actual experience, so I'll just assign you someone to take you on a tour." Roma continued. "Hmm… Germania, I think Arthur has a free period now right?" Roma asked, looking at his friend.
Germania nodded, "Yes, he does, should I call him here?"
Roma nodded, "Yes, ask him if he can show Alfred around."
Germania nodded, leaving the room.
"Well then. That's settled. I'm certain you and Arthur will get along." Roma said. "Come by after the final bell and I'll assign you to a room here, okay? Oh, and, I guess I had better make a schedule for you…"
Alfred nodded silently as someone knocked at the door. "Come in!" Roma said.
The door opened and in stepped Arthur. Like Arthur, Alfred recognized him immediately. "Hey! Your that angel from that room!" Alfred said. He knew the angel's name was Arthur, but hoped there was maybe, two Arthur's in the school. No doubt Arthur was angry at Alfred for bowling him over and assaulting him with a pillow.
""What the- Your that bloody git who knocked me over!" Arthur spluttered, pointing at Alfred.
"Oh? You two know each other? That will make it easier then!" Roma said happily, not noticing the tense atmosphere.
"Well, anyways Arthur. I need you to show Alfred around the school. He is a new student, and I think you're the best choice for introducing him to others. He seems like a nice boy, so I'm sure he can make friends quickly!" Roma said.
"What! I don't mean to be rude sir, but I cannot go around the school with this boy!" Arthur said.
"Hey!" Alfred said, taking slight offense to the comment, although he had to agree, walking around with this kid didn't seem like a fun walk in the park... "What's wrong with me? All I did was knock you over and hit you with a pillow! That's no reason to completely hate me!" Alfred said indignantly.
"Well, you never apologized, and I have a feeling that by hanging out with you, I'm going to end up bruised and broken!" Arthur said.
"What! That's why you don't want to be around me! That's a stupid reason! I'm not going to kill you!" Alfred said, waving his arm around, clearly annoyed that Arthur believed such a stupid thing. Unfortunately for Arthur, who was standing too close to Alfred, he got smacked in the face.
"Arrgh! You bloody git! I told you!" Arthur said, holding his forehead.
Roma laughed, he knew they would get along fine. Above them, a bell sounded. "Well then I'll leave it to you Arthur. How about introducing him to the new students? I'm sure they would be great friends for Alfred. You know a few of them right, being one of them yourself." Roma said.
Arthur grumbled, when you got a job from the principal, you couldn't really say no. "Yes sir. Come on Alfred…" he said as he walked out the door, passing by Germania as he entered the office.
Alfred began to follow Arthur, but stopped, he wondered…
"Um, Principal Roma and Principal Germania..." Alfred said, hesitating. Both Roma and Germania looked at him.
"Yes Alfred?" Roma asked.
"Um, well… I was wondering… You don't look that different, so well… I just…" Alfred stuttered, he felt like he was being too nosy. "Never mind, sorry!" Alfred said, hurrying out the door after Arthur.
Both Roma and Germania laughed, watching Alfred retreat out the door.
Sometimes it's more than just appearance. Germania's voice echoed in Alfred's head.
That's right; there may be more to someone than what you can see, Alfred. You have to look harder and pay close attention, there's always more. You remember that, okay? Roma's voice chimed in.
Alfred stopped, in the hallway, turning around to look at the office. As the door closed, he saw both Germania and Roma looking at him, their eyes were glowing a faint white.
"Hey! Hurry up you git or I'll leave you behind!" Arthur called, standing at the end of the hallway, waiting for Alfred. His large eyebrows furrowed as he tapped his foot impatiently.
Alfred turned around. "Sorry!" He called as he ran to catch up to Arthur who yelled at him not to run in the hallways. Roma and Germania's words echoed in his head…
Sighing, Alfred wondered… Was there anything normal in this strange school?
Authors Note: Gah! It took me over a week to update this? Ahh, I'm so sorry! Mid-terms are this week, so I was busy studying… Ugh, school must be one of the major factors of slow story writing…
Ah, as you can see, this chapter is a bit lame and kind of… Fast-paced? Well, I needed to get Alfred into the school somehow? I hope it flowed okay… (-.- )
More mystery! Ehh… Probably not, but there is, erh, foreshadowing maybe? Well, there's a fail attempt at some humor, to lighten the mood from all the seriousness. The next chapters will have some new characters. Really it's just a brief look until I can bring in the prophecy, but hopefully it will satisfy some? (^_^")
I'll try to update more often, but since Mid-Terms are this week, it might not be until the weekend! Sorry! (-_-"")
Reviews are appreciated! Anything counts, be it about grammar, or plot development, questions or just to say you like it! I really appreciate them; it makes me want to keep going! Flames will be used to burn the Mid-Terms, maybe then I won't have to study for them… (^o^)
