So Feliciano has saved his client yet again. And you know what happens next? LUNCH!
/="Emotion" by Ar Tonelico II=/
He sat peacefully at one of the tables, waiting for the others to come with the promised lunch. For the heck of it, he began to doodle in his notebook with his pencil. He recalled those birds that Sadiq was controlling earlier, and decided to try drawing them. Instead, when he distanced the book from his eyes, he saw that a few details were off.
Ve~~I don't remember it having six wings…
Since it was different from what he remembered, he decided that he might as well color it his own way. Before he knew it, it ended up looking nothing like the birds he saw and instead looked more like a mutated dove with a Mardi Gras mask. At least it looked pretty cool. That's when he realized that there was a strange mark on the mask, right on the forehead.
"I don't remember drawing that…" He blinked.
He took a good stare at it, the mark looking oddly familiar to him. It was only after he had an itch in his neck that he recalled that the mark was similar to his Vitula, only a lot more complicated and detailed than the one on his chest. Slowly, he lifted up a finger and touched the center of the star.
/="Pandora Hearts" by Pandora Hearts=/
Symbols swirled around his eyes…
Reaching out to one that looks like his…
W-was he on FIRE? Why doesn't it hurt, though?
…Feliciano…
There's a screaming child in front of him…he has to help him somehow.
[Why, though?]
"I…I don't know why. I…just know it's right."
[Being morally right isn't the same as protecting yourself.]
The child was covered with black marks…pathetically covered with a black robe and covered tears…
"D-damn you…why did you do this to me…?"
…Feliciano…
Huh? There's a figure standing in front of me. The symbols look like they were his wings…
…
…
["He who works in its name will never know its secrets…"]
…Feliciano…
…someone's calling me…he sounds so familiar…
/="Emotion" by Ar Tonelico II=/
"Hey! Hey! Feliciano, talk to me!"
He barely heard a voice calling to him, shaking his shoulders rapidly and calling out his name. He knew it was Lovino, that was all he can recall. Feliciano knew that he had to respond to him, but for some reason he couldn't find the energy to move at all. Halfway through that thought, he realized that he wasn't breathing at all.
Wait…he's not BREATHING?
"W-what's going on? What's happening?"
"He just passed out! And he's not breathing!"
"Not breathing? How's that possible?"
Why wasn't he panicking? For some reason, he couldn't feel anything, physically and emotionally. What's going on?
...Feliciano…
I-It's that voice again…
Barely had that voice called to him that he suddenly felt himself jerk upward, air shooting down his lungs. His eyes cleared up, and he saw the concerned look of Lovino staring right back at him. Everyone else had surrounded him in concern, shocked that he suddenly came back to life.
"Feliciano!" Lovino screamed in his face. "Answer me! Can you speak?"
"…Lovi-kun…" He whispered, wiping his eyes. "Ve~~~what happened?"
"You just passed out and stopped breathing all of a sudden!" Raivis stated. "Are you sure you're OK?"
"I…don't feel different." He answered. "I'm OK."
"How can you be so calm at a time like this?" Lovino growled. "You were dead for five seconds!"
That thought smacked him for a few minutes. Why wasn't he panicking at that fact? That's when he suddenly felt emotion run through his veins. He immediately became terrified at the thought that he was dead, and the sadness he felt toward that boy from his vision…
"I-I'm fine, Lovino." He answered again. "Just a little hungry…"
"Che…" Lovino stood up. "I can't buy that!"
"Let's not worry about that now…" Eduard said. "We bought you food."
"Ve~~~thank you!"
Feliciano looked at the beautiful assortment of food in front of him (which consisted of pasta and meatballs…who could guess) and started gobbling it all down as the others sat down and slowly consumed their meals as well. Of course, Matthew couldn't help but be worried about Feliciano's state of health.
"Are you sure you're OK?"
"I'll be OK. Thank you for asking." He bit into the pasta. AWESOME. "Ve~~~how did the client respond to you?"
"They were happy that they got what they wanted. That was about it." He chuckled.
"Oh, speaking of which…" Seyel turned to the others. "What were you two doing in Brittaniya Dyhanie anyway?"
"We were just doing a small scouting mission. They wanted thirteen Henrite Feathers for a project of theirs." Eduard stated. "We just got lost on the way back…so most likely there is someone else doing their job."
"Actually, I was able to contact them before we got here." Toris stated. "They're going to meet up with us here."
"Huh." Seyel folded her hands. "I actually want to meet these people…"
The two brothers could hardly care less: the food was all they wanted, really. As they were consuming their lunch, Feliciano's mind started to spin around the strange images that he had during his…whatever the hell it was. The symbols looked like Vitula…but whoever that boy was…
"Your breasts belong to me, da ze!"
Oh s-
Something came from behind and instantly grabbed his chest, causing him to scream and jump up to his feet. Lovino stood up to react, only to see the person that was grabbing Feliciano's breasts. And by the looks of things…he was enjoying every single moment of this.
"Y-Yong Soo!" Feliciano gasped.
"Heeey, I didn't think I'd see you again!" Yong Soo straightened himself up. "This is great! I was missing you!"
"N-nice to see you too…"
"Yong Soo! Behave yourself!"
That low voice made him immediately straighten himself up like a soldier (was it in a mocking fashion? He never figured it out). Looking around, he saw two other familiar figures walking toward them with their gazes stuck on Yong Soo. Once they looked up, that's when he saw their faces.
"Yïngguó Shi! Húdié Mei!" He gasped.
"Feliciano? Oh wow, I didn't see you there!" Húdié Mei grinned. "How are things?"
"I've been doing well." He answered. "Is that the person you were giving the job to?"
"Yes, actually!" She went to them. "Give me a minute."
Instantly, the two of them went over to Toris and Eduard and talked about their mission. Feliciano stared at them for a few minutes before turning his head toward his half-eaten lunch. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled to the side and saw that Yong Soo wanted to talk to him. He followed.
"Hey, when we were talking to those two, they said that you were beating the heck out of the dude that was making fun of Raivis there!" Yong Soo stated. "Is that true?"
"Uh…well, I was able to fight him off…if that's what you mean." He answered. "Why?"
"I knew it! I knew there was something interesting with you!" Yong Soo tapped his nose. "We should form a guild!"
"A guild?" Feliciano blinked. "What's that?"
"Basically it's a group of people who work together on missions, da ze! I've always wanted to start one, but a lot of people would just join the church or something when they want to be associated with something." Yong Soo folded his arms. "We should start a guild, just you and me! We'll be a third party!"
"…that sounds fun!" Feliciano chirped. "We can start something!"
"Awesome! Don't worry, da ze! I'll handle sending out the word about us!" Yong Soo lifted his hand up in the air. "You just do what you do best!"
"…which is…?"
"Duh! Doing missions!" He got his shoulder. "Hold up, I'm spreading the message across!"
Feliciano looked confused as Yong Soo suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the lunch table, watching as everyone was finishing their meals and the final deal was being made between the client and the job taker. Yong Soo slammed his hands on the table, catching their attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen…I have an announcement!" He chirped. "Me and Feliciano are starting our own guild!"
"Your own guild?" Seyel looked confused.
"What, you're gonna try competing against the church and the free-loaders?" Lovino folded his arms.
"Duh! We charge cheap, da ze! We'll get up there in no time!" Yong Soo wrapped his arm around Feliciano's shoulder. "So who's in?"
"I don't see a problem with that." Matthew smiled. "I'm in."
"I want to try this out." Seyel grinned. "It sounds fun."
"A guild? What, does that mean that we can be a really big group?" Húdié Mei asked.
"Something like Chikyuu…only a lot cooler!" Yong Soo chirped. "You know why? Because I started it!"
"I cannot trust you alone with an idea this big." Yïngguó Shi sighed. "As long as you're not the leader."
"Course I'm not!" He laughed. "Feli-ku here is!"
"WHAT?" Feliciano jumped.
"Then I'm in."
"Y-Yong Soo…! I don't know anything about running a guild!" He panicked.
"You'll just be the figurehead, the leader in all the missions. I'm doing all the dirty work!" Yong Soo grinned. "Cuz confusion originated in me~!"
OK, what?
"Of course you can't run this." Lovino shook his head. "This is completely stupid…"
"Which means you're in it!"
"NO! I don't know who the hell you are, but I'M NOT GETTING INVOLVED!"
"Ve~~~come on, fratello…this sounds fun!"
"For the last time, I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER!"
"Come on, Lovi-kun…"
"IT'S LOVINO!"
"They're going to be going on for a while…" Eduard sighed. "Perhaps the three of us should accompany them?"
"I don't mind. They seem nice enough." Toris smiled.
"Besides…" Raivis quietly chuckled. "Seeing those two argue is funny…"
"Yes…" Seyel smiled. "They do argue like brothers, don't they?"
"WE'RE NOT BROTHERS!"
"Riiiiight…"
"DAMMIT YOU THICK-BROWED JERKWAD! I OUGHTA-!"
"So, Feli-ku! Our guild needs a name!" Yong Soo slapped his back. "You should choose it!"
Feliciano seemed taken aback by that random statement. Suddenly, he felt a strange thought cross his mind. Maybe it came in with the strange blanking out he had earlier. Maybe it didn't. But something was telling him that by choosing a name, he was going to change his destiny forever…or something corny like that. He took a deep breath and said the first word that came to mind.
"…Hetalia."
/="Grand Fonic Hymn (Music Box Version)" by Tales of the Abyss=/
"For freakin' sake, Feliciano…you can't be suckered into crap this easily!"
"No? But I think this sounds fun, Lovino…"
"Geez, fratello…whatever happened to you messed up your head…"
Feliciano couldn't help but chuckle as Lovino plopped on the couch, grumbling some choice words. By the looks of things, Lovino would only call him his brother privately. Maybe he wasn't used to having companions? But enough about that. Bringing up what happened back there brought back those memories again. He sat quietly next to him, catching Lovino's attention.
"What the hell is it now?"
"…back there…at the plaza…" He said. "Something…happened to me."
"Of course something happened to you, douche. You passed out! You stopped breathing!"
"I-I know that, I know that! I mean…something else happened…" Feliciano looked away. "I…saw things."
"What, like a vision or something?" Lovino 'che-d' and turned his head. "Please. You were dead on the table-"
"There were symbols, spinning around me like they were a kaleidoscope…and I kept hearing a voice that was calling my name…" Feliciano lifted his hands and moved them as if he was moving a globe. "And there was some boy in front of me…with a really strange Vitula and was covering himself with a black robe…"
"A black robe…" Lovino looked at him with a blank look on his face. "Hey, was there anything on that robe, like any of your symbols or something?"
"S-symbols? Uh…" Feliciano pouted in thought. "T-there was a metal cross…pinning it around his neck."
"Huh…that's interesting…" Lovino's voice drifted.
"W-what's wrong, fratello?"
"I was just remembering something…some huge issue concerning the Church and TriPenta a few years ago…"
"T-TriPenta?"
"The second largest guild in the world, rivaling the Church if it was even possible." Lovino sighed. "Apparently they had a huge debate with the Church concerning the Gekozen or something like that…can't remember why, exactly."
Feliciano stared at him with a strange look on his face, wondering what he meant by that, when he heard the door knock. He immediately jumped to his feet and headed toward the door, swinging it open without really caring. It was then that he saw a familiar figure at the door.
"Am I intruding on something important?"
"No, of course not Kiku!" He chirped. "Did you want something?"
"I've heard from Yong Soo that you were starting a guild, am I correct?"
"Y-yeah!" He stood up tall, trying to at least look important. "We're the Guild of Hetalia, at your service!"
"Are you SERIOUSLY keeping that name?"
"Ve~~? You don't like it, Lovi-kun?"
"It's LOVINO!"
"Anyway, what can we do for you?"
"Actually, I was wondering if me and Ludwig can join your service."
Just the very mention of Ludwig's name sent a strange shiver down Feliciano's spine (why, though?). The strange voice that was calling to him before started up again, calling him once…twice…before finally leaving him alone. He grinned, happy that Kiku didn't seem to catch on.
"Of course you can! Just…uh…" Feliciano paused. "Talk to Yong Soo about it…we, uh…haven't figured out how it works…"
"That's fine. I just wanted to see if recruitment is available." He bowed. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
And with a ninja poof, he was gone. By the somewhat girlish scream that echoed behind Feliciano's back, Lovino had actually watched that occur.
"I-I didn't scream!"
Suuuuure you didn't.
/=SAVE YOUR GAME AT THIS POINT?=/
[YES] [NO]
SAVING…
…
…
SAVING COMPLETE. NOW RETRIEVING MESSAGE FROM MITSUKI HORENAKE…
/=+=/
There you go! Long chapter! It's been a while since I wrote a chapter more than two thousand words long (that was the finale of Holy Roman Empire, I believe). And yeah…important plot points!