Eheh... I feel compelled to apologize. Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. I kept on rewriting it since I never really liked how it went... and then I got distracted by a bunch of other anime... but hey, at least I got around to updating, right?

The requests for characters were Russia and his sibings, Latvia, Turkey, and Egypt, but I also threw in some others to make it all work out. Also, I gave Ukraine the name Maria, just to let you guys know.

Okay, so enjoy the chapter!


"M-Maria?"

"Ivan! Natalia! What are you two still doing up? It's way past your bedtime…"

"We couldn't sleep… can you tell us a story?"

"Please?"

Maria bit back a smile at her younger siblings' pleading eyes. They both certainly looked sleepy… there must be something in particular that they needed to hear. "Alright. Go back to your room, and I'll be there in a bit."

The delight on their faces was unmistakable, and the seven-year-old boy smiled broadly. "Yay! Come on, Natalia! You can pick which story she'll tell." He took his sister's hand and led her back to their room, where he quickly made sure that she was comfortable enough in her bed before crawling into his own.

Moments later, Maria appeared, pulling up a chair between the two beds and then looking at her sister kindly. "So, Natalia, what sort of story would you like me to tell?"

The youngest child squirmed slightly under her covers, her gaze switching back and forth between her older siblings. She wanted to pick a story that Ivan would also enjoy listening to, and that Maria would have fun telling. Finally, she came up with one. "Can you… tell us about the key? To the Ghost World?"

"The key?" Maria looked surprised. "You may not be able to understand it all… it's a little complicated."

Natalia shrugged. "S'okay. Ivan's curious about it, too, I think."

"Ivan?" when the boy nodded his confirmation, Maria leaned back in her chair to think about how to begin the tale. After a few moments, she began.

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"Obviously whoever is the key to the Ghost World has some awesome powers," Gilbert stretched out on the sofa near his brother's bed. "Not nearly as awesome as mine, of course, but still pretty awesome. Pretty powerful."

Ludwig leaned forward, eager to learn more about what was supposed to be one of the strongest ghost speakers in the world. "What kind of powers? What can the key actually do?"

"Hmm, let's see..." Gilbert took a long swig of beer from the bottle he'd placed on the floor when he first lay down, and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Well, rumor has it that the key has the power to destroy the abilities of any one ghost speaker, or enhance them tenfold. They can also give or take ghost speaker abilities to a normal human being." He glanced over at his little brother. "Intense stuff, huh?"

"Is that all?" Ludwig sounded almost unimpressed.

Gilbert snorted. "Are you kidding? Of course not! West, I've barely scratched the surface of what the Ghost World's key can do."

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"The Ghost World's key is basically an embodiment of all the secrets and powers of ghost speakers and the Ghost World itself," Vash explained. "Because it's so powerful, all aforementioned things are placed into a ghost speaker's body only once every millennium. For the same reason, unlike normal ghost speakers who receive their abilities at birth, it takes thirteen years for the chosen key's mental and physical state to sort through all the ancient information, and therefore their powers are finally awakened when they turn thirteen. Of course, it is not uncommon for the powers to emerge a few days before or after the thirteenth birthday."

Lilli blinked, trying to absorb all the new information. "And... it's around now that this millennium's Ghost World key should be arriving, right?"

Vash nodded. "If my calculations are correct, he should be around your age right now. In other words, it'll only be a few more years before the most powerful ghost speaker in the world awakens."

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"I don't see why you both would have to know this," Arthur glanced down from his teacup at the younger boys staring at him from their seated position on the floor. "After all, it's only Alfred who is the ghost speaker among you two, right?"

The violet-eyed boy flinched slightly, but his brother only leaned forward eagerly. "Mattie just has nothing better to do. Now come on, can't you tell us? It's not like it's hurting anyone if he hears it or not."

Arthur sighed, and put down his cup. "I suppose so. Now, you wanted to know the most powerful ability of the Ghost World's key?"

A determined nod came from the blue-eyed boy.

The Englishman thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Of course there's no question about it. The most powerful ability is the wish-granting one. Whoever is present the very second the key turns thirteen will have one wish, any wish, granted. If there are two people present, two wishes will be granted and so forth. Do you understand?"

"So if I was there when the key turned thirteen, I could ask for a lifetime supply of hamburgers and they would give it to me?" Alfred asked hopefully.

"If you want to put it that way, yes," Arthur confirmed.

Alfred grinned. "Awesome! Wouldn't that be great, Mattie? Hey, I have an idea! When we grow old enough, let's go looking for the key! And then, when we find him and he turns thirteen, I promise I'll give you some of my hamburgers."

"If we did, I could just ask for a lifetime supply of maple syrup," Matthew responded in his whispery voice.

"Sure, whatever. Let's just do it together!"

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"T-T-Toris?"

The Lithuanian turned at the call of his name, smiling affably when he saw his co-worker. "Hi, Raivis. What's up? What did Mr. Braginski want?"

Raivis ducked his head nervously. "Er... you have a new m-mission. Mr. Braginski said that you and Feliks should go to Mr. Wang's family and ask them if they received any more news about the Ghost World's key. Y-you know, since they haven't really been making contact with us lately..."

"I see." Toris nodded. "Thanks, Raivis. I'll go get Feliks, and we'll leave in about ten minutes. Just tell Mr. Braginski that if he asks you, okay?"

"Got it..."

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"Yong Soo! We've got visitors. Come up here."

"Eh?" The Korean turned around from his watch on Ari. He looked up the stairs to see Xiang staring down at him. "You want me to go up? But don't I have to keep an eye on this guy?"

"I'm in a cell," Ari growled. "What do you possibly think I could do?"

Yong Soo glanced at him. "Well, you are the key to the Ghost World... there's no telling what you could do."

Ari sighed. "Again with the Ghost World... I already told you! I have nothing to do with your ghosts! I can't even see them."

"And we've already told you," Xiang answered coolly, "your powers will awaken this Friday. Until then you're as weak as any other human. And because you'll be this weak until Friday, I'm sure it will be fine if we leave you along for a few minutes. Now come on, Yong Soo. We don't want to keep our guests waiting."

"Roger that, da ze!" The Korean bounded up the stairs, already convinced by the Hongkonger's reasoning.

Ari let out a frustrated noise, and slammed the cement floor with his fist. This was so stupid! Erik was the one who could see ghosts, not him! Why did he have to get dragged into it? This was all Erik's fault...

"As soon as I get out I am so going to kill you."

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Berwald kept a level tone with his raging cousin as he replied in his low voice, "Ex'ctly wh't it so'nds like."

"Ari wasn't at school when we went to go pick him up," Tino took over. "The teachers all said that someone else had already taken him, and that that person had the consent from you."

"Consent?" Erik raged, all traces of his previous cool exterior completely gone. "I didn't give anybody any consent except for you two!"

Tino winced at the Norwegian's harsh tone. "Maybe it was Lars or Bella who picked him up?" he suggested meekly.

"Doubtful," Matthias spoke up from his position on his uncle's armchair. "Lars told me that he and Bella were gonna go check out the other ghost speakers in the town today. They wouldn't have bothered picking up Ari, especially without telling us first."

Erik growled. "Why didn't I act sooner? I knew that Ari was in danger, but I waited until somebody had to confirm it for me… and by now it's too late. Damn it! There are tons of other ghost speakers in this town right now—anyone could have taken him!"

"The N'rth Amer'can Br'thers?" Berwald suggested. "They could be 'pset 'bout their loss er'lier."

"No, after what Lars said they probably wouldn't have attacked for a while," Erik dismissed. His eyes narrowed to cobalt slits as he thought. There had been rumors that the Asians had been lurking around, and the Soviet had recently received news of the Key, but the one picture that kept on nagging him from the back of his head was that of a bright blonde boy with serious green eyes… "Vash! I'll bet it was him and his family!"

"You mean Gilbert?" Tino gasped. They were a mysterious group, but rumor had it that they were incredibly strong throughout the Ghost World.

Berwald frowned, looking unconvinced. "Wh't makes ya say th't?"

"He's been threatening and challenging me every day since he and his family arrived here. He even went as far as to drag Ari into this, never mind that Ari is the center of all the trouble." Erik scowled, suddenly bearing a strong resemblance to his younger brother. "It must've been him."

Matthias grinned. "Well, if you're sure, Erik, then let's go beat'em up." He stood up, stretching his arms with a satisfied noise. "I was getting bored, anyways."

"This isn't a rescue mission, Matthias," Tino reminded him, an almost worried look in the Finn's eyes. "We're just trying to confirm that it was really them who took Ari. Try not to jump to conclusions when we're there."

"Ha! No worries!"

Berwald tilted his head to one side, but gave his agreement to join. Whenever anything involved Ari, Erik never truly thought clearly, but when it came to the Ghost World everything was better safe than sorry.

"Now that's that's settled," Erik took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself. "Let's go, then."

ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ

"Wouldn't it be great... if cats could be like us?"

"Eh?" Sadiq shot an irritated glance at his companion next to him. "What're you talking about now?"

Heracles looked at him sleepily, blinking slowly in that infuriating way that drove the Turk crazy. "I mean... if cats could see ghosts and have abilities like ours... that'd be pretty cool, don't you think?"

"Tch. Don't even think about something as stupid as that. Cats are pests, and pests are never any good."

"If I recall correctly, you said the same thing to Gupta about his dogs... even though he hadn't previously mentioned anything about them."

"I could see it on his face! He had a stupid idea."

"... why are you always such a hypocrite, Sadiq?"


Before anyone asks, yes, this Arthur is the same as Ari and Lilli's teacher. Now what could this mean?

I hope I cleared up some confusion about Ari and the Ghost World's key and stuff... and remember, you can still request characters! If you really want to see a whole bunch of random people come out of nowhere...

I can't promise I'll update again any time soon, but I will promise that I won't ever abandon this story.

Please review, and remember that feedback is always appreciated!