*sigh* It's hard keeping Romano in character, because poor Arya needs an ally at this point, but since he's a total scaredycat like his brother (he just acts tough) he wouldn't really make a good one. However, at this point, she's taking what she can get whilst I attempt to keep him in his sort of "I'm scared out of my wits, but I still have to act like a man and tough it out" attitude that he'd most likely adopt in this situation…at least until he got desperate and started running away.

Arya's POV:

Day 32, "Hetalia" Reckoning

(Song)Quote for the Day:

"Appearances can be deceiving." –Quote

Now that I'm reasonably certain of what's been going on, I'm going to start hiding this diary. No, scratch that, I'm not just going to hide it, I'm going to find a lock and lock it. If my suspicions are correct, however, that probably won't do much against these guys. I wish I could ask Britain or one of the other Magic Trio for a spell to keep it from being opened or something, but I somehow doubt anything from Britain is trustworthy now, not to mention they've probably "acquired" the other two from the Magic Trio as well, to keep someone from doing anything if they do find out.

Speaking of, their activities seem to be on the down low so far, probably because they can't afford to get caught…which raises another question. Why can't they get caught? Why are they being so damned cautious? If anything is to be learned from the anime, all the Hetalia characters tend more towards the comedic than the militaristic, and since my experiences here seem to bear up with that being mostly true, and since these guys were created and specifically "altered" to be murderers and psychopaths, in terms of a straight-out fight, sadly my money would be on the doubles instead of the originals…which probably means it isn't a question of actual, physical confrontation. If so, what is the problem?

Well, in a lot of the fanfictions, it's a matter of taking the countries by surprise, or by subterfuge on the doubles' parts, so possession must be difficult…? That might be it: if the victim is aware of what's going on, it might tip the scales just the little bit they needed to stay in control, and then if they told others about it, they could organize and figure out some way to prevent it from happening…

Yeah, that's probably why they're being so sneaky. Also, they seem to need the actual country in a ritual or area or something to be able to take over, since they chased after Romano with the intention to capture him, and since Romano hasn't been acting weird, his double must be relatively weak and needs help to take over…

Which leads me to another thing. The 2p!s aren't even cannon! What the hell are they doing here?! They shouldn't even exist at all!

But…I am in a Japanese anime world. The Hetalia "universe" isn't supposed to exist either, and yet here I am. I suppose this could mean that all these fictional worlds do exist, even the ones that were added on by fans or something like that, they're just not connected…You know, that makes more sense than I should credit myself for. But it does seem logical, and since most of the fanfictions I've read about them define the doubles as murderous, psychopathic, and ruthless, as well as desperate to take over their originals for one reason or another, that would give them an excellent motive for being here now.

The only question would be how

Britain could've been experimenting with weird magic, I guess, and his 2p influenced him towards a world-transport spell or another summoning spell gone wrong, then quickly took over when he wasn't expecting it…and after that it'd be child's play to help the others over…

But I don't think that's likely: Britain would probably be prepared for something just like that, if not his 2p specifically, when he was trying a spell to link dimensions together or whatever. That sort of thing can be very dangerous without murderous doubles, and he's been a magician long enough he probably knows that. So, that leaves either brute force or something else weakening the barrier or what-have-you keeping the worlds apart…

Something like someone from neither world suddenly dropping in out of nowhere on the wings of a badly worked spell…

No, Germany said this started a few months before I zapped myself here; so it's not my fault. Thank god for th-

My musings were interrupted by Romano slamming the door open and glaring at me. "Are you going to write in your diary all day like a schoolgirl, or come with me and learn some more Italian?! Come on krautlet, time's a-wasting!" he barked, and I frowned and closed my journal with a sigh.

I followed Romano outside to his black car and got in, my mind spinning with a dangerous new idea. If what I remember about his 2p is correct, he's more of a fashionista than a killer…and I do need an ally. I'm under no illusions here; I'm a sixteen year old American with okay-ish strength and coordination against god-knows-how-old psychopathic country representations, all of whom could easily overpower me single-handedly, some of which know magic, and most of which know how to use a blade or some other, equally deadly, weapon. Even if Romano's Italian, he's a country and he's the best I'm going to get for right now. Despite what they said about Germany, I don't trust him being able to hold out against Lutz, especially if he knew what I was planning. I don't know if they just sort of automatically assimilate knowledge of their 1p!s when they take over, or if they're in a state of constant mind-meld and just know. I live in the same goddamned house as 2p!Italy, I am not letting them know I'm onto them. I wouldn't even survive the night.

"Hey Romano, you know about those guys that chased us yesterday?" I asked after a slow, deep breath, and he looked at me askance.

"Why the hell do you want to talk about them!?" he snapped, and I swallowed hard.

"I-I think they're connected to the disappearances and the amnesia and…stuff." I said lamely, looking down at my lap as I twiddled my thumbs, and he gave me a sharp look out of one amber eye.

"You know something." he said. It was more of a statement than a question, so I didn't bother nodding.

"I suspect something, and I have enough circumstantial evidence to give me reason to believe I'm right." I said briskly, and he nodded slowly, looking back at the road.

"Well, now's the best time to say it without being listened in on, and it's not like I can ignore the fact someone attacked me in my own damn country. Tell me everything you know, krautlet."

And so I did. I left out the information about me being from a different dimension, phrasing my knowledge in the form of an urban legend I had heard about "personified countries" and the fact they had "second players", their evil alternate versions, and some vague descriptions of the more well-known ones, as well as the fact that the doubles looked eerily like their originals. He began to sweat a bit at that, and I continued, telling him about what I had overheard in the alley yesterday, as well as the knife that had been either carelessly dropped or misplaced amongst the original Italy's paint supplies. By the time I was ending, Romano's face was white and he was sweating profusely.

"-and the fact that the other countries are separating due to the fear of catching this "disease" is working in their favor. They can take down whoever they want, and as long as they do it quietly and give the target country time to say that they're feeling weird, the others will give them a wide berth and be unlikely to visit. So…what do you think?" I asked, reaching down to take a swallow of the water by my feet. I hadn't spoken this much all at once in a long time.

Romano swallowed several times, his hands tight on the steering wheel. "I'm very sorry you showed up, signora." he croaked, wiping a trickle of sweat from his face. "It would have been a lot better to just not know this in the first place."

I shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry man…trust me, I honestly would have preferred this to be an actual amnesia epidemic, or something like that. So you believe me?"

He sighed and leaned back, piloting the car with just one hand. "It makes too much sense to be coincidence, not to mention one of those bastards yesterday did look a lot like my stupido brother…just…different." Romano shuddered, looking even more ashen, although he kept his "tough guy" façade up. I nodded sympathetically.

"Supposedly, these doubles are the summation of all the bad things their originals did in the course of being a country, or are the negative thoughts they have, or their polar opposites, or, you know, something like that. I don't really remember." I said apologetically. And there isn't a "one true thing" for the 2p!s anyway. It's all fan theories, so even the same characters are all wildly different depending on who they are being written by or thought of. I added silently.

Romano swore and hit the dashboard. "So we have no idea how to fight these bastards?!"

I bit my lip, thinking, and slowly shook my head. "I don't really know. Probably not without England's expertise, or one of the other Magic Trio…and we can't even go out asking about it, because I don't know if these doubles can automatically read the minds of their originals, or they just find out when they take over, and I'm not taking the chance. I live with one, don't forget. Italy's already been taken over at least twice, and he didn't even notice it."

Romano nodded with a sort of savage amusement. "And we really don't want the first sign of them being onto us to be a knife in your back, si?" he snorted, and I shook my head vigorously.

"Hell no."

He considered the road ahead of us. "So…that leaves us to figure it out on our own. Any excuses to offer to my dumbass brother and the potato bastard?"

I turned and looked at him strangely. "What? Why?"

He gave me a withering look. "We go and find some of the idiotas who got themselves taken over, and watch them like hell. We'll at least get a clue on what they're planning, if not on how to change them back." he said with his usual bite, and I blinked twice.

That's…actually pretty smart.

I took out my cellphone, the same one which had delivered the fateful message that had landed me in this mess. "I can call Italy and say you're taking me on a round trip of the country to educate me on your culture?" I suggested hesitantly, looking up at him. Romano considered it for a second.

"What about your stuff?" he asked slowly, and I frowned.

"I guess we could double back and get it. I can ask Italy to pack it for me-"

He instantly shook his head. "Bad idea. Who knows what that double could slip in while we weren't around."

I bit my lip. Damnit, he has a good point. I thought in frustration, then blew out. "Well, I guess I can just figure it out later."

I moved my thumbs over the keypad, then held the phone to my ear and waited for it to pick up. About two rings later, I heard Italy's cheerful voice.

"Vee~ Arya, what's up?"

I crossed my fingers for good luck as I began speaking. "Well, um, Romano's kinda offered/demanded to take me around Italy to help me learn your guys' culture, so…I might be gone for the next few weeks. Is my stuff mostly packed?"

There was a moment of silence, and then he spoke again. "Why are you going without me?" he asked, and Romano and I exchanged sharp glances. Italy's voice, his actual, physical voice, hadn't changed, but he…sounded different. He didn't have quite the right cheery inflections or the exact bubbly pronunciation, and the question was very out of character for him.

This was where several years of working a cheap backwater hotel came in handy; the number of married men with mistresses was surprisingly high, as were the drug deals, prostitution exchanges, and otherwise I-don't-want-to-knows, and tongue-in-cheek lying on the fly became an integral part of our job. But never anything this big, this personally life-threatening. It was mostly just a smile-and-nod routine on the rare occasions someone asked after someone else that really shouldn't be renting from our facilities.

"Well, someone's got to hold down the fort with Germany: he's worried sick, what with all this amnesia stuff going around." Keep it simple, don't shy away from subjects, especially if they have reason to suspect you're hiding something to do with those subjects. Answer quickly, but not too quickly. Don't hesitate. Most importantly, include a small grain of truth in the lie to make it believable. "You're the best one for the job after all, you're his best friend, and Japan's out sick. You can do that, right?"

There was a tense moment of silence from our end, then Italy's normal happy voice came through the other end. "Vee~, of course! You can count on me Arya, I'll make sure that meanie Germany doesn't do anything dangerous! Who knows, maybe he won't even make me run around in circles anymore!"

I forced a chuckle out. "I highly doubt it. Bye!"

We both clicked out, and I immediately let out a sigh and closed my phone, slumping back against the seat.

"That was stressful."

Romano nodded as he turned us around, also sweating profusely. "That wasn't my brother –well, that wasn't just him." he croaked, and I nodded rapidly.

"At this point, I think my suspicions are pretty much confirmed." I said fearfully, and he gave a terse nod of agreement.

"Hell yes they are. That phone call would've convinced me anyway –my brother just doesn't sound like that." Romano said with great feeling, and I shuddered along with him. There was just a sense of something wrong whenever we heard a 2p speak, even through their original: as if their very voices carried some of their psychotic, evil taint. Well, now that we knew what something was going on, all we had to do was stop them.

Hehe.

All.

I sighed and let my forehead thunk against the dashboard.

We're fucked.