*Seeing the increase of reviews and follows, no matter how little it is..

*It fills you with determination.

*HP fully restored.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, nor do I own Undertale.

Chapter VIIII:

Trekking Into Snowdin's Antics Part II

'North: Ice

South: Ice

West: Ice

East: Snowdin Town... and Ice.'

After nearly slipping on the ice several time, the Italian could finally read what was on the sign. He felt a tad bit disappointed after thinking that the sign could be helpful. All it did was to say the same thing, save for east. Snowdin Town... sounds like a fun place to be in. Going the alternate path, he could see that there was only a snowman, who seemed sad.

So, snowmans are alive too..

"Hello, traveller." Upon seeing Italy approaching, the snowman smiled, delighted that someone was visiting him. "I am a snowman. I want to see the world, but I cannot move. If you would be so kind, traveller... Please.. Take a piece of me and bring far away."

"I-.." The nation started but paused, seemingly in deep thought. The snowman, fearing his reaction, sighed and took back his words, a tinge of melancholy in his voice.

"It is fine, traveller. You do not have to accept my offer."

"...I never said no, did I?" Italy chuckled, embarrassed. "Sorry if you think that I'll say no. I was just... thinking."

"Thank you, traveller!" As best as he could, the snowman used his branchlike arms to form a small snowball and beamed as he passed it to the other. The nation accepted the gift and placed it into one of his pockets. "Good luck on your journey!"

"Grazie! I'll take care of it!" A little bit of light returned to his face as the Italian beamed brightly. "Arrivederci!"

He wandered back to the intersection and went east, humming a cheerful tune. What he saw were a familiar pair of skeleton far ahead. What he heard was a strange and unfamiliar conversation between them.

"REALLY THOUGH! THAT HUMAN!" The taller skeleton pondered, curiosity in his voice. "DO I KNOW THAT PERSON?"

"do you not know," Sans looked away. "who you know?"

"PFFT! OF COURSE I KNOW WHO I KNOW!" The red clad skeleton closed his eyes and tapped his feet in thought. "I WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU KNOW... I KNOW WHO I KNOW AS MUCH AS I KNOW WHO I KNOW! ..YOU KNOW?"

Papyrus sounded confused by the end of the sentence. Italy approached them, feet crunching in the snow. The two skeleton turned their attention towards him, and the odd conversation ceased there.

"OH-HO! SPEAK OF THE DEVIL! HALT, HUMAN!" He exclaimed, grinning with an air of confidence. "IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS QUITE... SHOCKING!" Here he paused to give a glare at his brother who was attempting to hold in his laughter. "FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... ELECTRICITY MAZE."

"i guess you could say that this could be," The skeleton in the blue hoodie snickered. "a-maze-ing."

"SANS!" Exasperated, Papyrus turned his attention away to the chuckling nation and started explaining. "WHEN YOU TOUCH THE INVISIBLE WALLS," He took out a crystal clear ball. "THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN? THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE.. IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK. OK, YOU CAN GO NOW."

The auburn haired Italian looked at the clearing ahead of him, a spike of fear lingering in his chest. He did not want to move, even with the expectant gazes of the two monsters. He valued his life over some dangerous puzzle. So, he just stood there nervously, fingers twiddling, until Chara decided to intervene.

"Why are you doing? Are you really going to just stand there?" There was no reply, but she could feel a sense of anxiety from him. She sighed, materialising beside him and gave a look. "You've faced the Ruins puzzles, Toriel's flames, even said that you wanted to be friends with that skeleton by doing his puzzles and now you won't move?"

"It's not that I don't want to move.." Italy murmured softly, trying not to see the questioning look they were giving. "I'm scared."

"...Try to take a step forwards. See what happens."

Hesitantly, he took a tentative step forward and jumped when there was a loud buzzing sound. The nation returned to his original position as he watched Papyrus getting electrocuted. After that was over, he blinked in shock, whole body as black as charcoal.

"SANS!" The taller skeleton yelled, his body turning back to his regular state. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"i think the human has to hold the orb."

"OH, OKAY." With that spoken, Papyrus walked through the maze, left, up, left again, down and finally reached him. He did not notice that he left a trail of footprints behind as he walked. "HOLD THIS PLEASE."

The orb was thrown in the air in a dramatic way and was caught by the auburn haired Italian. He observed the trail of footprints as the skeleton advanced back to stand beside his brother.

"OKAY, TRY NOW!"

"Well? Are you still going to stand there?"

Italy maneuvered through the maze, carefully following the footprints left by the red clad skeleton. When he reached the end of the maze, Papyrus seemed amazed by his achievement as his smile widened.

"INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL!" He placed a gloved and on his chin in a thoughtful manner. "YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY... HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLES WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS!" He gestured at said person. "YOU WILL SURE BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

The others stared as he walked away, cackling as usual. Sans looked at the nation, a hint of gratefulness in his voice.

"hey, thanks." He said, looking at his brother's retreating form and back at the Italian. "my brother seems like he's having fun."

"I try my best.." Italy chuckled and gazed at the maze behind him. "Where should I put this orb?"

"just leave it on the ground." At the nation's look, the skeleton laughed. "don't worry about it. my brother will probably take it and use it on the next poor soul. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he was wearing?"

He nodded, promoting Sans to continue.

"we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn't worn anything else since. keeps calling it his 'battle body'..." The skeletal monster chuckled fondly. "man.. isn't my brother cool?"

...

Romano stared at the phone in his hands, debating. When he had tried to call after the meeting, there was no reply, even when he tried it several times. At first, he thought it was just signal interference since Veneziano had been stuck underground for a while now, but then..

How was he able to call from below, especially if he left his phone at the hotel?

There was another matter. Being connected as the same country, the two siblings shared a bond, where they could sense each other's emotions and occasionally share memories as well. A certain incident proved that fact. Closing his eyes, he felt happiness and carefree, as if the northern part of Italy was acting normally. However, there was something else as well...

He could sense someone else in the bond they shared.

...

He found himself in a tunnel of some sorts. It was too dark to see anything but the scene in front of him, and what he saw surprised him. An anthropomorphic animal, resembling a goat, stood facing Veneziano, magical flames coming out of its palms. The nation, on the other hand, was moving around, but he noticed a glowing red heart with gold outlining it floating in his chest.

What on Earth was going on?

"No." Tightening his hands into fists, his brother stopped dodging the flames. The inferno continued to burn him, the heart cracking and becoming dimmer until he was on the verge of collapsing. "I won't fight you. I've spared everyone I met in the Ruins, and you're no exception."

"Stop it..." The creature faltered, looking away. "Stop looking at me like that..."

Miraculously, the red flames steered away from the Italian, just barely grazing him until it stopped hitting altogether. The anthropomorphic animal lowered its arms, smiling with a hint of sadness as the magic dispersed.

"Look, I know you want to leave now... But please.." The creature started, a guilty expression on its face. "Go upstairs. I.. I promise I will take good care of you. I know we do not have much but.. We can have a good life here."

"I know.." With the weakening heart still visible, Italy stumbled forward and engulfed it in a hug, squeezing tightly. "I know, madre. I don't doubt that at all. But, at the same time.. I have friends too, living on the surface. A brother waiting for me to come home. And I want you to meet them. Toriel.."

He squeezed harder.

"Please let me go."

"Ha ha.. Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child." 'Toriel' chuckled bitterly, leaning into the hug. "I understand, Italy. Living here will just be unsuitable for you. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. My expectation, my loneliness.. my fear. For you, my child, I will set them aside."

...

With a jolt, Romano woke up, staring into the darkness of his hotel room as he recalled what he saw. The dark haired Italian had not received any memories from his brother since that incident. Pursing his lips, he reluctantly tapped a number on the screen, pressing the green button. The beeping lasted for a few seconds before it was picked up.

"Hello?"

"America, we need to talk."

...

As Italy wandered into the next area, the first thing he noticed was a ice cream stand and Sans standing a distance away. By now, he had dismissed how the skeleton managed to move around so quickly, as if he was teleporting. When he had asked about it, he merely winked and said that he used a shortcut. He briefly wondered how many shortcuts are there in this place.

As he advanced towards the ice cream stand, he observed the vendor. He was a light blue furred rabbit-like monster. There was a tuft of fur sprouting from the top of his head. The vendor wore a bright yellow short-sleeved shirt with a single, vertical red stripe in the middle, and bright red pants.

"I don't understand why these aren't selling..." He murmured, sighing softly. "It's the perfect weather for something cold..."

It was then he noticed the nation approaching.

"OH! A CUSTOMER!"The ice cream vendor grinned, delighted. "Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms up your heart! Now just 15G!"

"Sure!" Italy chirped smiling. "What flavours do you have?"

"Plenty! Why don't you take a look?"

"Do you want one?" He whispered to Chara, observing her actions. She was peeking into the cart, eyes widening when she had found what she was looking for. "Which one?"

"Chocolate. Chocolate. Please, I want it so badly."

"Just chocolate, please." He said.

The vendor nodded and took out the Nice Cream. "Here you go, sir!"

"Grazie!" The Italian paid and left, saying a 'goodbye!' as he did. As he walked to the cliff, the ghost reached for the cold snack, but being what she was, her hands only phased through. She cringed and glanced at him.

"Italy."

"Si?" He looked over and saw her pouting face. "What is it?"

"Let me take over."

He did not reply immediately. Chara, desperate for the chocolate, attempted to reason with him.

"Please? I-I'll give it back, I promise!" She tried to grab the Nice Cream. "Just look! Can you see this? I'm a ghost, I can't touch physical objects. Just please, I want to eat it."

"I- Fine.." He reluctantly gave in, clearly remembering the last time she took over. "Just keep your promise."

With that spoken, the ghost immediately took control. Eagerly opening the wrapper, she hummed happily as the sweet flavour exploded in her mouth. She sat down on the snow and enjoyed every bite whilst pointedly ignoring certain giggles coming from the nation.

Ah. Sorry for the late update. My muse was going slowly and I hit a Writer's Block for an entire day.

The conversation between Sans and Papyrus was actually real. I was watching Manly's, as in ManlyBadassHero, playthough as a reference point and saw this. When I compared it to Cry's playthough, the conversation was about sleeping. I suspect that the playthough Manly posted was not his first reset.

...I'm so addicted to Radix's cover of My Best Nightmare. It's so awesome.

Slight note. I did some major editing because the chapter title cannot afford having a lot of characters. So, I apologise if the some of the chapters ends up having the same document and I will try to fix it immediately.