The beach was crowded. Small children squealed as waves lapped against their legs. People of all shapes and sizes spread themselves on towels, soaking in the sun. No one paid much mind to the four foreigners dressed in jeans and t-shirts setting up at the very edge of the waterline. Tourists always did strange or silly things.
"I don't see why we can't do this in the hotel room," England said as he drew a large circle in the sand with his foot. The small trench immediately filled with water and melted away.
"The ocean is a powerful force," China said, picking up a hunk of seaweed deposited by a wave and tossing it away. "We are looking for one magic circle potentially miles away. It can't hurt to have the extra power."
Russia began picking pebbles and shells out of the water and scattering them in the shape of a circle. "Why do we need the extra power? We have the dagger. Will that not be enough?"
"Good question," said England, joining Russia in building the circle. "What exactly are you up to, China?"
China sat with crossed legs in the middle of the circle, pulled Adelina's dagger out of his belt and stabbed it into the sand. "I wish to gather as much information from the circle once I've found it, that's all," he said calmly. "Can we please begin?"
England and Russia finished the circle and settled inside, closing their eyes.
"And what am I supposed to do?" America said, annoyed.
"Keep a lookout. There's a chap," England said distantly.
"Great." America slumped in the sand as the circle began to glow faintly purple.
England, Russia and China sunk into the spell, Russia and England lending their power over to China as he grasped the hilt of the dagger. The thread attaching the dagger to the circle lit up in his mind. He traveled slowly along the thread, sizing up the strength of the link. He gave it a mental tug. Suddenly he flew forward along the thread and found the circle before him glowing a bright, hot orange-red. He reached out for it, then pulled back, scalded.
"It's very strong," he said, bemused. "Stronger than anything I've ever seen."
"You see it?" Russia asked, his cheeks growing read from the heat.
England wiped sweat from his brow. "Has the day grown hotter?"
"It's the circle. It's radiating power." China carefully moved around the circle's circumferance. He felt tugs from the other daggers attached to the circle, but ignored them, fascinated by the strength of the power emminating from it. He took a deep breath and wrapped the power coming from England and Russia around him.
"What are you doing?" England asked sharply.
China didn't answer. He dove into the power of the sea, absorbing as much as possible before crossing over the burning circle.
"I've got 'em!" Jen leapt up from the floor, eyes growing bright, grinning from ear to ear. "They're checking out the circle!"
Oleg sat up straight on the hotel bed. "Do you know their current location?"
"Yes, yes, somewhere sunny...a beach..."
Mei pushed off the desk she was sitting on and reached a hand over the circle Jen stood in. "Show me." Jen took her hand. A flash of sand, ocean, white-washed buildings. Mei's eyelids fluttered. They snapped open and she smiled. "I'll be back."
She disappeared.
"China." A breathy voice whisked over China, filling him with a sense of unease. "How good of you to visit."
"It's a visit of business, not pleasure, " China called in the dark space within the burning circle. "Whoever you are, you've caused quite a mess."
The voice chuckled. "On the contrary, I believe I may have solved a problem that's been itching me for eons," the voice cooed. "The nations were a troublesome group. And now, you are almost extinct."
China ignored the voice, reaching out with his mind, feeling for the source of power. A burning flare of pain pushed him back.
"Oh, enough of that," the voice admonished. "It's rude poke a girl who isn't interested. Now, what am I to do with you? I suppose if you insist on coming to me, I might as well put you out of your misery."
Suddenly a set of green tendrils whipped out of the dark and wrapped around him, dragging him further into the circle.
America sighed and flopped back in the sand. He stared up at the blue, cloudless sky. "So. Bored." A smokey smell wafted over his nose. He took a sniff and sat up.
"Woah!" China, England and Russia were bright red, as if they had been sitting in the sun for hours. Smoke billowed out of the circle.
America leapt to his feet and ran down the beach, yanking a child's bucket from his hands. The child squealed and his mother screamed at him in Greek as he ran back to the circle.
"Sorry, official business!" He cried as he scooped up seawater and threw it at the three nations. As soon as the water hit the nations, a plume of steam rose from them. A small, murmuring crowd began to gather around the circle, watching America toss bucket after bucket of water on the baking nations.
"Come on, guys!" America cried. "Wake the hell up!"
China struggled with the tendrils, fighting and scraping his way toward the edge of the circle.
"Who are you," he growled, pushing as hard as he could against his attacker.
Oh, you know me, China," the voice said, amused. "We are very old friends, you and I."
"I doubt that." China pushed again, but his efforts rolled off his attacker uselessly.
"We have met many times," the voice said soothingly. "In field, and dale, and forest, and hill, in lake and river and ocean."
China stopped struggling, stunned. "Wait. It can't be..."
"Ah! My people have found you." The tendrils released China. "I believe I will let them complete their task. Perhaps now that you know who I am, you will convince the others how pointless it is to run."
In a controlled panic, China pulled himself out of the circle and pushed away from it as quickly as he could.
Mei popped back into the hotel room. "I've found them. They're in Greece. A town called Kavala."
Oleg grinned. "Fantastic. Let's go."
"Wait!" Jen held up a hand. "We have an opportunity here! We're all linked to the big, bad circle through the daggers! That's a lot of power. I want to try something. Mei, give me your hand."
Mei glanced at Oleg and did as Jen requested. Jen latched on to her, hard, draining her of some of her power.
The nations surfaced from the spell, gasping for breath. The murmuring of the crowd grew louder as Russia staggered to his feet, stumbled out of the circle and plunged into the sea. He stood, shook water from his hair, and started splashing himself all over in the shallows.
England, wide eyed with fury, tackled China. "What the hell were you doing," he cried, shaking China. "We could've all been killed!"
"Impossible," China said smoothly. "We are still nations after all."
England's eyes flashed. He swung back and punched China square in the jaw.
America dropped his bucket and jumped into the circle. "Come on, bro," he said, grabbing England and pulling him off of China. "He's not worth it. Besides -"
America, China and England disappeared. A cry rose up from the crowd. Russia turned, bemused, noting the people pointing and screaming. He stared at the empty circle, pushing through the crowd as he walked toward it. Water dripped from his sopping sleeve as he gingerly reached a hand out to the circle. Heat radiated from it, scalding him.
"Of course," he muttered. He pulled his hand back and kicked at the pebbles and shells making up the circle. Immediately the heat dissipated. The crowd watched him with wide eyes. He ignored the people, taking out his phone and walking away quickly. The phone dripped with water and was unresponsive. He stared at it for a second before throwing it into the sand, throwing up his hands and stalking away.
"China, you bastard," he said, teeth clenched as he moved to the streets of Kavala. "If you and I both survive our attackers, I will kill you myself."
England and America stared around at the large, empty beach. A cool wind hit them, causing them to shake in their drenched clothes. A small town of brick and stone lay in front of them.
"Where the hell are we?" England sputtered.
China waded through scrub grass, seemingly in the middle of a large piece of grazing land. In the distance, a herd of giraffes ambled around a small copse of trees.
"Well, this is a fine setback," he grumbled. He pulled out his phone and found it thoroughly soaked through.
"Done," Jen said, satisfied. She let go of Mei, stretched, and stepped out of her circle.
Mei stumbled away, holding her arm. "What did you do to me?"
"I used your power, amplified it, and separated the nations." Jen sat on the bed. "Now we know exactly where they are, and can go to them at our leisure. Man, the big circle is crazy powerful! I don't think I could have done that spell without it."
"Jen, you're the best." Oleg stood and clapped his hands together. "Alright guys. It's time to do some hunting!"